bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PSIV-16 Effects of a functional protein on growth performance of nursery pigs
Authors: Cemin Henrique S , Swalla Luke A , Pietig Jamie L , Hansen Sharlie A , Hansen Ernie L , Ratliff Brent W , Gaines Aaron M , Usry James
Published: November 2020

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of a functional protein (FXP; Ani-Tek Group, LLC, Shelbina, MO) on growth performance of nursery pigs. A total of 840 pigs (PIC 337 × Camborough), initially 5.5 kg, were used with 28 pigs per pen and a total of 15 replicates per treatment. There were two treatments, which consisted of a control diet and the control diet with added FXP. The experimental diets were corn, soybean meal, and whey permeate-based and contained 3,000 mg/kg added Zn. The inclusion of FXP was 0.3% of the diet. Experimental diets were fed for 23 d, followed by a common corn and soybean meal-based diet from d 23 to 48. Pigs were weighed and feed disappearance measured to calculate ADG, ADFI, and G:F. There was no evidence (P > 0.10) for treatment × experiment interactions, thus data was combined for statistical analysis using the MIXED procedure of SAS. From d 0 to 23, pigs fed diets containing FXP had higher (P < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, and BW and a tendency (P = 0.053) for improved G:F. During the common period (d 23 to 48), pigs previously fed FXP had a tendency (P < 0.10) for higher ADG and ADFI. Overall (d 0 to 48), pigs that received FXP had higher (P < 0.05) ADG, ADFI, BW, and a tendency (P = 0.055) for improved G:F. In conclusion, the inclusion of the functional protein improved growth performance of nursery pigs.
PSIX-14 Evaluation of high-protein distillers dried grains on growth performance and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs
Authors: Rao Zhong-Xing , Tokach Mike D , Dritz Steve S , Woodworth Jason C , DeRouchey Joel M , Goodband Robert D , Calderon Cartagena Hilda I , Wilken Mallorie
Published: November 2020

A total of 1,890 growing-finishing pigs (PIC; 359 × 1050; initially 27.1 kg) were used in a 124-d growth trial to compare the effects of pigs fed diets with high-protein dried distillers grains (HPDDG) or conventional dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) on growth performance and carcass characteristics. Conventional DDGS contained 29.0% CP, 0.48% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys and 9.2% oil, whereas HPDDG contained 39.3% CP, 0.68% SID Lys and 11.1% oil. All diets were formulated on an equal SID Lys-basis with diets containing HPDDG having less soybean meal than diets with conventional DDGS. There were 27 pigs per pen and 14 pens per treatment. Treatments were arranged in a 2×2 + 1 factorial with main effects of DDG source (conventional DDGS or HPDDG) and level (15 or 30%). A corn-soybean meal-based diet served as the control and allowed linear and quadratic level effects to be determined within each DDG source. Pens were assigned to treatments in a randomized complete block design with initial weight as the blocking factor. Data were analyzed using lme4 package in R (version 3.5.2) with pen as experimental unit. Overall, there were no differences observed in ADG between pigs fed either DDG source. Pigs fed HPDDG had decreased (P< 0.001) ADFI and increased (P< 0.001) G:F compared with those fed conventional DDGS. Increasing either conventional DDGS or HPDDG decreased carcass yield and HCW (linear, P< 0.02); however, there were no differences between pigs fed HPDDG or conventional DDGS. Iodine value (IV) was greater (P< 0.001) in pigs fed HPDDG than conventional DDGS, and IV increased (linear, P< 0.02) with increasing DDG. These data suggest that pigs fed HPDDG had greater G:F and IV compared with pigs fed conventional DDGS, probably due to the difference in oil content.
PSVI-10 Mint oil, yeast cell, and ɣ-tocopherol supplementation in gestation and lactation diets on the antioxidant status of the sow and offspring performance during the suckling period
Authors: Hernandez Lily P , Dunn James L , Wenninghoff Joel , Levesque Crystal L
Published: November 2020

Times of high metabolic activity can lead to increased incidence of oxidative stress in gestating and lactating sows which may impact suckling piglet performance. Identifying products that could help alleviate this stress would be beneficial. A study assessed yeast cell, mint oil, and ɣ-tocopherol supplementation in gestation and lactation diets on sow antioxidant status and offspring performance to weaning. A total of 53 sows and gilts (206.2 ± 35.3 kg at breeding) were assigned to one of 4 diet regimens: Control (CON), control + yeast cell at 0.15% (YC), control + mint oil at 10 ppm (MO), and control + ɣ-tocopherol at 200 ppm (GT). Diets were provided from breeding through weaning (lactation day 21 ± 2). Control diets were formulated to meet nutrient requirements in gestation (3279 kcal ME/kg, 0.63% SID Lys) and lactation (3279 kcal ME/kg, 1.06% SID Lys). Yeast cell, mint oil and ɣ-tocopherol were added as a top dress once daily. Sow variables evaluated were weight at beginning and end of each period, feed intake, litter characteristics at birth, and antioxidant status in serum, colostrum and milk. Piglet growth during suckling was determined. Data were analyzed as randomized complete block and Tukey’s adjustment as means separation test. Maternal diet had minimal impact on gestation or lactation feed intake or sow body weight. There was no effect on litter size or piglet birth weight. Piglets from GT-fed sows tended to be heavier at weaning than YC piglets due to differences in daily gain. Glutathione content in colostrum and d14 milk samples did not differ by maternal treatment. D14 milk Glutathione content was 40%, 59%, 62%, and 51% greater in CON, YC, MO, and GT sows, respectively, compared to colostrum. No difference in superoxide dismutase content in serum and d14 milk observed. Inclusion of ɣ-tocopherol in sow gestation and lactation diets enhanced suckling piglet growth; connection to sow antioxidant status remains unclear.
PSVI-3 Dietary supplementation with coated omega-3 fatty acids has positive effects on growth performance and nutrients digestibility in weaned pigs
Authors: Seok Woo Jung , Ahn Je min , Hu Jing , Dang Dexin , Li Yanjiao , Kim In Ho , Zhang Jian Ying
Published: November 2020

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of coated omega-3 fatty acid (n-3 CFA) by corn cob power silica on performance of weaning pigs. A total of 200 weaned pigs [(Landrace x Yorkshire) x Duroc, average initial body weight at 6.97 ± 1.22 kg] were randomly assigned to four experimental treatments in a 6-week experiment in 3 phases as follows: CON, basal diet; 2) 0.3CFA, CON + phase 1(0.3% n-3CFA), phase 2(0.2% n-3CFA), phase 3(0.1% n-3CFA); 3) 0.6CFA, CON + phase 1(0.6% n-3CFA), phase 2(0.4% n-3CFA), phase 3(0.2% n-3CFA); 4) 0.9CFA, CON + phase 1(0.9% n-3CFA), phase 2(0.6% n-3CFA), phase 3 (0.3% n-3CFA). Each treatment had 10 replicates with 5 pigs (three gilts and two barrows) per replicate. The data were analyzed using the GLM procedure of SAS as a randomized complete block design. Pen served as the experimental unit. Linear, quadratic and cubic polynomial contrasts were used to examine effect of dietary treatment with coated n-3FA in the basal diet. Variability in the data was expressed as the standard error of means and P< 0.05 was considered to statistically significant. Increasing the level of n-3CFA in the diet linearly increased ADG and G/F of pigs (Table 1). Increasing the level of n-3CFA showed a linear increment in the digestibility of DM (83.59, 84.38, 85.13, 85.89 %) whereas nitrogen digestibility (81.79, 82.38, 82.96, 83.64 %) showed a trend (linear effect, p=0.0594) at the end of experiment. The fecal lactobacillus count was increased (7.22, 7.27, 7.33, 7.35 log10cfu/g) with the increase in the supplemental level of n-3CFA (linear effect; p< 0.05). However, there were no differences in the concentration of serum haptoglobin, or fecal E. coli, Clostridium and Salmonella counts despite the increase in n-3CFA levels in the diet. Supplementation of the diet with coated n-3 fatty acids positively affected growth performance and digestibility of dry matter and nitrogen, and enhanced the count of lactobacillus in weaning pigs.
PSVIII-9 Effects of different sources and levels of dietary iron and selenium on the postprandial net portal appearance of these minerals in pigs
Authors: Dalto Danyel Bueno , Matte Jacques
Published: November 2020

This study compares the post-absorptive levels of iron (Fe) and selenium (Se) in pigs fed different sources and levels of these minerals. Twelve 55-kg pigs were surgically equipped with portal and carotid catheters and a portal ultrasonic flow probe and used in a cross-over design to assess the 11-hours net portal-drained viscera (PDV) flux of serum Fe and Se after ingestion of boluses containing adequate (A; 200 and 0.6 mg) or high (H; 400 and 1.2 mg) levels of these minerals from dietary inorganic (I) or organic (O) sources. Arterial Fe concentrations increased (158 %) within the first six hours post-meal and gradually decreased thereafter (P < 0.01). Values for I were greater than O until six hours post-meal (P < 0.01) and for A than H between five and eight hours post-meal (P ≤ 0.01). There was a tendency for the interaction source x level (P = 0.07) on net PDV fluxes of Fe where values for AI were greater than AO (P = 0.02). The cumulative Fe PDV appearance (% of intake) was greater for I (2.2 %) than O (-1.7 %) after four hours post-meal (P = 0.02) but this effect was no longer detected at 11 hours post-meal. Arterial Se concentrations decreased by 7 % from pre-meal values until 11 hours post-meal (P < 0.01) and this decline was more pronounced for O than I (P = 0.03). Net PDV flux of Se was positive but only during the first 90 minutes post-meal (P < 0.01). The cumulative Se PDV appearance (% of intake) was greater for I (20.0 %) than O (-3.8 %) at 45 minutes post-meal (P = 0.04) but this effect did not persist thereafter. In conclusion, net availability of Fe and Se was greater for I than O during the early post-meal period. Whether these results reflect non-absorption or greater O intestinal retention remains to be elucidated.
PSVI-20 Impact of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products on in vitro rumen microbial fermentation of new crop corn silage
Authors: Reedy Coleman G , Butler Joan , Yoon Ilkyu , Oelberg Tom , Werner Tracy , Khafipour Ehsan
Published: November 2020

Dairy cows fed silage towards the front edge of a bunker have shown decreased performance often referred to as the new crop corn silage slump. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product, NutriTek® (NutriTek), on in vitro volatile fatty acid (VFA) production using new crop corn silage collected at various distances from the front edge of the bunker as substrate. Silage was sampled at 1.8, 3.6 and 7.2 m from the front edge of the bunker by taking the entire face of the silage and mixing. NutriTek was added to each serum bottle relative to the recommended feeding rate of 19 g/d along with 0.3 g of silage as substrate. Each serum bottle was inoculated with 40 mL of buffered rumen fluid from cows on a diet consisting of 70% forage and 30% concentrate and was incubated for 24 h. Ten replicates were run per treatment. After incubation, VFA production was measured. Data were analyzed using the GLM model of JMP. Means were compared using Tukey test and significance was defined as P < 0.05. There was a linear trend of decreasing silage pH as sample depth increased; 4.01 at 1.8 m, 3.71 at 3.6 m, and 3.56 at 7.2 m. Results showed that VFA production was reduced for 1.8 m sample compared to the 3.6 m and 7.2 m samples (Table 1). NutriTek was able to improve acetate, propionate, and total VFA production over Control at all corn silages tested (Table 2). In addition, NutriTek showed the ability to elevate VFA production of the 1.8 m sample to Control samples at 3.6 and 7.2 m. In conclusion, NutriTek could be a management tool to address the performance slump of dairy cows when transitioning to a new crop corn silage.
PSI-4 Effects of increasing metabolizable protein on starch digestion in lightweight beef cattle
Authors: Crowell Cierra , Tondini Sara , Redden Miles , Shike Daniel W , McCann Joshua C
Published: November 2020

The objective was to evaluate the effect of increasing MP on starch digestion in lightweight beef steers. Greater provision of metabolizable protein (MP) may increase RUP and aid in pancreatic amylase production for optimum digestion of starch in the small intestine. Twelve crossbred steers were early weaned and used in a crossover design with two 18-day periods and 4 dietary treatments. Lightweight steers (BW = 153 kg) were randomly assigned to a treatment sequence for the 2 periods. Diets provided MP at: 0.59 (MP1), 0.69 (MP2), 0.85 (MP3), and 0.91 kg/d (MP4) based on observed DMI. Additional MP was provided through greater inclusion of blood meal. Feed and total feces were collected on d 12-18 to determine total tract starch digestion. Rumen fluid was sampled prior to feeding on d 17 via stomach tube to assess in vitro starch disappearance over 8 h for each steer. Data were analyzed using the Mixed procedure of SAS with fixed effects of treatment and period, and a random effect of steer. Starch intake was not affected (P = 0.18) by treatment with MP1 and MP4 having similar starch intake values (3.3 kg/d and 3.1 kg/d, respectively). In vitro starch disappearance and final in vitro pH were not affected (P ≥ 0.18) by increasing MP. Similarly, fecal starch output was not different (P = 0.65) among treatments with MP1 treated steers having 0.21 kg/d of starch output and MP4 steers having 0.18 kg/d of starch output. Low fecal starch output values resulted in high total tract starch digestion ranging from 90-96% and were not affected (P = 0.52) by treatment. Overall, increasing dietary MP did not affect ruminal in vitro or total tract starch digestion.
PSI-14 The effect of creep feed and its nutrient level on growth performance in suckling and weaning pigs
Authors: Isensee Paige K , Albers Sarah , Wichman Lindsey , Thoma Autumn , Jang Young Dal
Published: November 2020

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of creep feed (CF) and its nutrient level on growth performance of suckling and weaning pigs. In Exp. 1, eight litters (d 20 of age) were allotted to 2 treatments based on breed, litter size and weight as follows: no-CF (n=3) and CF (n=5; offered from 8 days before weaning). At weaning (d 28 of age), the pigs were divided into 3 treatments (6 pigs/pen, 3 replicates; initial BW: 9.66±0.34 kg) balanced with gender, weight, and breed as follows: eaters, noneaters, and no-CF. In Exp. 2, seven litters (d 12 of age) were allotted to 2 treatments as follows: HN (n=4): CF with fish meal (3%), blood meal (2.4%), and whey (15%), and LN (n=3): CF without those ingredients. At weaning (d 25 of age), eater pigs were divided into 2 treatments (6 pigs/pen, 3 replicates; initial BW: 7.53±0.97 kg) as follows: HN-eaters and LN-eaters. In both experiments, the pigs were fed a common nursery diet for 21 days. The CF was mixed with 1% Cr2O3 to measure fecal color for eater/noneater categorization. Piglet weaning weight was not different among eaters and non-eaters in both experiments (in Exp. 1, P=0.99; 9.35, 9.33, and 9.20 kg for eaters, noneaters, and no-CF, respectively). There was no difference on overall nursery growth performance in both experiments. The HN-eaters tended to have greater ADG (P=0.08; 0.506 vs. 0.427 g/d for HN-eaters and LN-eaters, respectively) and G:F (P=0.09; 0.889 vs. 0.717, respectively) than LN-eaters in d 7-14 postweaning in Exp. 2. The CF intake and percentage of eaters/litter (P=0.60; 85.6 and 80.87% for LN and HN, respectively) in Exp. 2 were not different between treatments. In conclusion, CF did not affect overall piglet growth in suckling and nursery phases, but nutrient level might affect early nursery pig growth.
PSII-15 Hydrogenation of palm kernel oil, palm oil, and soybean oil on energy and lipid digestibility, and performance when fed to 20 to 40 kg pigs
Authors: Breuer Sophia , Kerr Brian
Published: November 2020

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding hydrogenated palm kernel oil (PKO), palm oil (PO), or soybean oil (SO) relative to unhydrogenated PKO, PO, and SO on apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of gross energy (GE) and ether extract (EE), and on pig performance, in to 20 to 40 kg pigs. One hundred and fifty-four pigs (39.5 ± 3.6 kg BW) were randomly assigned to one of 9 diets composed of a basal diet, or test diets containing 94% of the basal diet and 6% added lipid. Lipids consisted of either unhydrogenated or hydrogenated PKO, PO, or SO in a factorial arrangement. The basal diet contained titanium dioxide as an inert maker and was used to determine the ATTD of GE or EE of each lipid using the difference method. There were 2 pigs per pen with pigs ad libitum fed for 25 d to measure growth performance. On d 23 and 24, a fresh fecal sample was obtained from each pen to measure ATTD of GE and EE. There was an interaction between lipid source and hydrogenation for ATTD of GE and EE of the lipid (P ≤ 0.01), where hydrogenation of PKO had no effect on ATTD of GE or EE of the lipid, while hydrogenation of PO and SO resulted in a reduction in the ATTD of GE and EE compared to their unhydrogenated counterparts. There was also an interaction between lipid source and hydrogenation on GF (P ≤ 0.01) where hydrogenation of PKO had no effect on GF while hydrogenation of PO and SO resulted in a reduction in GF compared to their unhydrogenated counterparts. The data show that hydrogenation of PKO has no impact on ATTD of GE and EE of the lipid, or on GF, but hydrogenation of PO or SO reduce ATTD of GE and EE of the lipid, and GF, due to their fatty acids being longer in carbon chain length.
8 President Oral Presentation Pick: Use of electronic feed intake systems to assess feed bunk displacement events as an indicator of aggressive feeding behavior in beef cattle
Authors: O’Reilly Keara , Johnson Jocelyn R , Wottlin Lauren , Carstens Gordon E
Published: November 2020

Animal variation in social dominance within a herd has been shown to be associated with performance, feed efficiency and animal well-being. The objective of this study was to quantify disruptive feeding events in cattle fed a high-grain diet. Crossbred steers (n = 85) housed in a pen with GrowSafe bunks were used in this study. An algorithm was developed to quantify displacement events defined as an animal being displaced by another within 5 sec. These feed bunk displacement events were further separated into either displacer events or displacee events. A displacer event was defined as an animal displacing another (aggressive). A displacee event was defined as an animal being displaced (submissive). The displacer events as a proportion of total displacement events were used to classify animals as aggressive versus submissive (±0.5 SD). Animals with fewer displacer events as a proportion of total displacement events (submissive < 0.5 SD) had greater (P < 0.05) frequency and duration of bunk visit events and head down duration than the animals who initiated more displacer events as a total of displacement events (aggressive > 0.5 SD). Additionally, submissive animals also had a slower (P < 0.05) bunk visit eating rate than aggressive animals. The results of this initial analysis found that due to the associations between feed bunk displacements and feeding behavior, there may be potential to correlate this trait with temperament and performance traits as well as be a potential indicator of feed efficiency in confined cattle.
38 Using pooled data for single-step genomic prediction: Impact of within-pool variance and size
Authors: Baller Johnna L , Kachman Stephen D , Kuehn Larry A , Spangler Matthew L
Published: November 2020

Economically relevant traits (ERT) are routinely collected within commercial segments of the beef industry but are rarely included in genetic evaluations because of unknown pedigrees. Individual relationships could be resurrected with genomics, which would be costly; pooling DNA and phenotypic data provides a cost-effective solution. A simulated beef cattle population consisting of 15 generations was genotyped with approximately 50k markers (841 quantitative trait loci were located across the genome) and phenotyped for a moderately heritable trait. Individuals from generation 15 were included in pools (observed genotype and phenotype were mean values of a group). Estimated breeding values (EBV) were generated from a single-step GBLUP model. The effects of pooling strategy (random and minimizing or uniformly maximizing phenotypic variation), pool size (1, 2, 10, 20, 50, 100, or no data from generation 15), and generational gaps of genotyping on EBV accuracy (correlation of EBV with true breeding values) were quantified. Greatest EBV accuracies of sires and dams were observed when no gap between genotyped parents and pooled offspring occurred. The EBV accuracies resulting from pools were greater than no data from generation 15 regardless of sire or dam genotyping. Minimizing phenotypic variation increased EBV accuracy by 8% and 9% over random pooling and uniformly maximizing phenotypic variation, respectively. Pool size of 2 was the only scenario that did not significantly decrease EBV accuracy compared to individual data when pools were formed randomly or by uniformly maximizing phenotypic variation (P > 0.05). Pool sizes of 2, 10, 20, or 50 did not generally lead to EBV accuracies that were statistically different than individual data when pools were constructed to minimize phenotypic variation (P > 0.05). Pooled genotyping to garner commercial-level phenotypes for genetic evaluations seems plausible, although differences exist depending on pool size and pool formation strategy. The USDA is an equal opportunity employer.
9 A comparison of different genomic prediction methods in the Canadian Landrace swine population
Authors: Ardestani Siavash Salek , Jafarikia Mohsen , Sullivan Brian , Sargolzaei Mehdi , Miar Younes
Published: November 2020

Increasing the accuracy of breeding value prediction can lead to more profitability through accelerating genetic progress for economic traits. The objective of this study was to assess the predictive abilities and unbiasedness of best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) and popular genomic prediction methods of BayesC, BayesC(π = 0.99), genomic BLUP (GBLUP), and single-step GBLUP (ssGBLUP). Genotypic information (50K and 60K) of 4,890 performance tested Landrace pigs before February 2019 and 471 validation Landrace pigs that both had phenotypic information on backfat thickness (BFT), average daily gain (ADG), and loin muscle depth (LMD) from two Canadian pig breeding companies (AlphaGene and Alliance Genetics Canada) were used. The de-regressed breeding values (DEBV) were employed in GBLUP and Bayesian methods. A total number of 48,580 single nucleotide polymorphisms remained after quality control and imputation steps. The prediction accuracies were calculated using the correlation between predicted breeding values before performance test and DEBVs after performance test. All employed genomic prediction methods showed higher prediction accuracies for BFT (50.80–52.68%), ADG (26.61–34.47%), and LMD (18.25–25.08%) compared to BLUP method (BFT = 28.54%, ADG = 16.41%, LMD = 17.15%). The highest prediction accuracies for BFT and ADG were obtained using ssGBLUP method, and for LMD it was obtained using BayesC(π = 0.99). The BayesC(π = 0.99) showed also the lowest prediction biases across the studied traits (+0.05 for BFT, 0.00 for AGD, and -0.10 for LMD). In conclusion, our results revealed the superiority of ssGBLUP (for BFT and ADG) and BayesC(π = 0.99) (for LMD) over other tested methods in this study. However, the prediction accuracies from the tested genomic prediction methods were not significantly different from each other. Thus, employing these methods can be helpful for accelerating the genetic improvement of BFT, ADG, and LMD in the moderate population size of Canadian Landrace.
37 Genetic parameter estimates for days on feed, age at slaughter, and carcass traits in a multi-breed beef cattle population
Authors: Upperman Lindsay R , Kuehn Larry A , Spangler Matthew L
Published: November 2020

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for days on feed (DOF), age at slaughter (AAS), and their relationships with carcass traits, including: marbling score (MARB), adjusted fat thickness (AFT), hot carcass weight (HCW), ribeye area (REA), and final live weight (FW). Data were from steers and heifers (n = 7,747) from the Germplasm Evaluation Program at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. All traits were analyzed with univariate and bivariate animal models using ASReml. Fixed effects fitted for all models included contemporary group (concatenation of birth year and season, sex, and experimental treatment group), breed fractions, and direct heterosis. Different endpoints were also investigated by fitting fixed linear covariates of AFT, HCW, REA, MARB, FW, and age (except AAS and DOF). For a given bivariate analyses, both traits were adjusted to the same endpoint. Univariate heritability estimates for AFT, AAS, DOF, FW, HCW, MARB, and REA ranged from 0.45–0.52, 0.52–0.59, 0.33–0.39, 0.34–0.55, 0.34–0.55, 0.54–0.55, and 0.50–0.56, respectively. Covariates of MARB and AFT led to the highest and lowest, respectively, heritability estimates for AAS and DOF. Depending on the endpoint, genetic correlations between AAS and AFT, FW, HCW, MARB, and REA ranged from 0.16 to 0.32, -0.08 to 0.33, 0.19 to 0.36, 0.14 to 0.20, and -0.06 to 0.13 (Table 1). Genetic correlations between DOF and AFT, MARB, and REA were negligible. Genetic correlations between DOF, FW, and HCW ranged from -0.10 to 0.29 and -0.37 to -0.17. Standard errors were less than 0.07 for all estimates. Phenotypic variability in DOF was low, and increased variability in AAS was due to differences in date of birth and thus weaning age. Results indicate DOF and AAS are moderately to highly heritable and generally lowly correlated with routine carcass traits. The USDA is an equal opportunity employer.
35 Vaginal pH changes due to the use of a controlled internal drug release (CIDR) and its effects on fertility of beef cows
Authors: Dias Nicholas W , Timlin Claire L , Pancini Stefania , Dias Nicholas W , Seekford Zackary , Gómez Juan , Mercadante Vitor R G
Published: November 2020

The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in vaginal pH of beef cows enrolled in a 7-d CO-Synch+controlled internal drug release (CIDR) protocol and its effects on pregnancy. A total of 46 multiparous beef cows with no signs of vaginitis were enrolled. Individual vaginal flushes were collected from cows on D0, D7 and D10. Individual flushes were immediately analyzed for pH with a portable pH meter. As evidence of vaginitis, a CIDR score was determined at CIDR removal (D7), following a 1 to 4 scoring system: 1 = clean, no secretion; 2 = clean, clear secretion; 3 = purulent secretion; 4 = purulent secretion and blood. Pregnancy status was determined by rectal ultrasonography approximately 40 days after TAI. No cows had CIDR scores of 1 or 4, 19.6% of cows had a score of 2 and 80.4% a score of 3. Vaginal pH increased from D0 (6.88±0.007) to D7 (7.32±0.047), regardless of CIDR score (P < 0.001). Cows with a CIDR score 2 had greater pH on D7 (7.35±0.084) than on D0 (6.90± 0.14; P = 0.001), and pH on D10 was intermediate (7.14±0.14; P = 0.14). Cows with CIDR score 3 had reduced pH on D10 (7.09±0.07) when compared to D7 (7.29±0.04; P = 0.003), but greater pH on D10 than on D0 (6.87±0.07; P = 0.007). There was a pregnancy by day interaction for pH values (P = 0.046). Pregnant cows had greater vaginal pH in comparison with non-pregnant cows on D0 (6.99±0.081 and 6.68±0.09, respectively; P = 0.01) and D10 (7.26±0.08 and 6.89±0.09, respectively; P = 0.006), but not on D7 (7.34±0.05 and 7.27±0.06, respectively; P = 0.38). Non-pregnant cows had reduced vaginal pH on D10 in comparison to D7 (6.89±0.09 and 7.27±0.06, respectively; P < 0.001), whereas pregnant cows had similar vaginal pH on D10 and D7 (7.26±0.08 and 7.34±0.05, respectively; P = 0.35). We conclude that CIDR increases vaginal pH overtime and greater pH at TAI is beneficial to fertility.
51 A novel approach for development, standardization, and safety testing of enriched alum-precipitated vaccine against hemorrhagic septicemia in different breeds of cattle
Authors: Farooq Muhammad Zahid
Published: November 2020

Hemorrhagic septicemia is a fatal disease of cattle and buffalo all over the world, including Pakistan, and it causes heavy economic losses every year. The poor farmers cannot bear this loss in the form of less milk production and heavy expenditures on the animal treatment. An enriched alum-precipitated vaccine with reduced dose was prepared and standardized, and safety testing of the enriched vaccine was performed in Swiss albino mice as well as in natural hosts. In this experiment, a total of 36 cattle both male and female, of different age groups ranging from 4 months to 4 years, were used. All these animals belonged to all major cattle breeds of Pakistan, including Sahiwal, Red Sindhi (crossbred and purebred), Dhani (crossbred and purebred), Lohani (crossbred and purebred), and Cholistani, and exotic breeds, including Holstein, Friesian and Jersey. These animals were examined for current immune titer prior to vaccination. Animals were vaccinated subcutaneously with 2 mL and 4 mL dose of the new vaccine and were observed for any untoward reaction for 48 h. All the animals were kept under close observation for the next 30 days, and all were found safe. The experiment was designed to reduce the dose of the vaccine to 2 mL by using BHI as a growth medium, as well as to increase the number of doses prepared in the same infrastructure, hence reducing the cost of vaccine production. The study proved that a vaccine with increased biomass in reduced dose is safe in local as well as in exotic breeds of cattle.
57 President Oral Presentation Pick: The exploration of blood microRNA profiling in feedlot cattle with different lameness phenotypes
Authors: Li Wentao , O’Hara Eóin , Sun Huizeng , Schwartzkopf-Genswein Karen S , Guan Leluo L
Published: November 2020

Lameness is a significant economic and welfare issue in feedlot production. Effective treatment depends on diagnosing the cause of lameness accurately. There is increasing evidence that circulating microRNAs may serve as useful biomarkers for diagnosing disease. However, their association with lameness in feedlot cattle is currently unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate whether blood miRNA profiles can be associated with a specific lameness phenotype. Blood samples were collected via venepuncture (into Tempus™ Blood RNA Tubes) from 39 feedlot cattle diagnosed with digital dermatitis (DD; n = 2), toe tip necrosis syndrome (TTNS; n = 5), footrot (FR; n = 26) and healthy controls (HC; n = 6) for miRNA profiling using RNA sequencing. Samples were obtained at the time each animal was pulled from their pens for medical treatment. Total RNA was extracted from blood samples and subjected to small RNA libraries construction and RNA-sequencing. The sequence data analysis was performed using a web-based tool, sRNAtoolbox. A total of 596 miRNAs were identified across 39 blood samples with the expression of 444, 437, 465 and 575 miRNAs detected in the HC, DD, TTNS and FR groups, respectively. In addition, group-specific miRNAs were identified with 9 in the DD group, 45 in the TTN group, 28 in the FR group and 2 in the HC group. Moreover, 41, 8 and 36 differential expressed miRNAs (DE miRNAs) were detected in DD, TTNS and FR groups, respectively, when compared to the HC group using DeSeq2. These data suggest that miRNA profiles may differ according to lameness diagnosis in beef cattle. However, further investigation incorporating functional analyses of miRNA, increased sample size and the physiological profile of the animals are required to better understand the relationship between blood miRNA profiles and lameness in feedlot cattle.
75 Effects of endophyte-infected tall fescue on performance of genotyped pregnant beef cows and heifers supplemented with rumen-protected niacin
Authors: Alfaro Gastón F , Muntifering Russell , Rodning Soren P , Schnuelle Julie Gard , Cole Robert , Taylor Simon , Blythe Eugene , Pacheco Wilmer , Moisá Sonia J
Published: November 2020

Fescue toxicity is the result of cattle consuming fungal (Ergot spp.) endophyte tall fescue, a perennial forage widely used in the United States. Ergot alkaloids produce vasoconstriction; however, rumen-protected Niacin (RPN), known by its vasodilation ability, may act as an alleviator for fescue toxicity. Our objective was to assess the effects of a genetic test for fescue toxicity susceptibility, and RPN supplementation on animal performance, hepatic gene expression, and uterine arteries blood flow of Angus × Simmental pregnant animals consuming endophyte-infected tall fescue seeds. Ninety days prior to calving, genotyped pregnant cows (n = 11) and heifers (n = 17) were stratified by body weight (BW; 540 ± 207 kg) and genetic resistance to fescue toxicity (susceptible or tolerant); and randomly assigned to dietary treatments: 1) Susceptible Control (SC); 2) Susceptible Niacin (SN); 3) Tolerant Control (TC); and 4) Tolerant Niacin (TN). Animals’ BW and liver samples were obtained on days 0 and 29. Uterine arteries blood flow was measured using Doppler ultrasonography on treatment days 3, 10, 17, and 23. Messenger RNA was extracted from liver samples for RT-qPCR. Gene expression and BW data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS, and uterine arteries blood flow was analyzed with the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS. Between day 0 and 29, SOD1 and CYP2E1 were upregulated (P < 0.05) in TC and SC, respectively. Furthermore, SOD2 expression in SC was significantly lower (P < 0.05) on day 29. Genetic test and RPN did not affect uterine arteries’ blood flow. TN animals had a greater decrease in BW compared with other treatments (P < 0.01). In conclusion, Doppler ultrasonography did not detect any changes in uterine arteries blood flow and, supplementation with RPN may influence the oxidative status of cows’ liver consuming endophyte-infected fescue seeds.
317 Cattle and carbon on pastures – hearsay or evidence?
Authors: Franzluebbers Alan J
Published: November 2020

Does soil organic carbon accumulate in high density stocking of pastures? Should the detail of grazing management matter in answering this question? Would wishing that soil carbon increase with a particular type of management mean that it would actually increase? Does a practice that stores soil carbon in one region mean that it will store soil carbon in another region? How would we know the answer to any of these questions if we didn’t collect some relevant information? Soil carbon accumulation might be viewed as limited in potential in the southeastern US with the combination of highly weathered soils and favorable weather conditions for decomposition of organic matter inputs. However, these same environmental conditions could also be viewed as ideal for promoting soil carbon accumulation from a highly degraded state. In fact, there are plenty of soils in the region that have undergone severe degradation from decades of historical degradation. This presentation will explore some approaches taken to answer the question of whether soil carbon can be sequestered in managed pastures of the southeastern US. It will also probe into the question of type of management and its role in potential soil organic carbon sequestration. A combination of published and ongoing research will form the basis of this presentation.
332 What’s causing obesity in pets and what can we do about it?
Authors: Pretlow Robert
Published: November 2020

The majority of dogs (56%) and cats (60%) are now overweight or obese. A novel theory posits that obesity in pets is due to “treats” and excessive meal amounts given by the “pet-parent” to obtain affection from the pet, which enables “‘eating addiction” in the pet and results in pet-parent “co-dependence.” The pet-parent may even become hostage to the treats/food to avoid the ire of the pet. Eating addiction in the pet appears related to stress/conflict, involving the displacement mechanism, which is a bio-behavioral mechanism in the brains of all animals, even fruit flies. It allows the animal to deal with situations that cannot readily be faced or avoided or are thwarting, such as social isolation. Displacement behavior is out-of-context, irrepressible behavior, e.g. an animal in the wild who sleeps or feeds when threatened by a predator. It is thought due to re-channeling of overflow brain energy to another drive (e.g. feeding drive) when two drives, e.g. fight or flight, equally oppose each other. Moving the opposing drives out of equilibrium, by resolving the animal’s stressful life situations, theoretically halts the displacement mechanism and addictive behavior, e.g. overeating/obesity. Similarly, dealing with the pet-parent’s stressful life situations curtails displacement regarding overfeeding the pet. Treatment for each contribution to companion animal obesity will be presented: Pet-parent seeking affection from the pet by giving food treats, which induces and subsequently triggers displacement overeating in the pet -- > Treatment is pet-parent withdrawal/abstinence from treat-giving. Displacement of pet-parent’s stressful life situations by feeding the pet. The received affection induces and subsequently triggers further treat-giving by the pet-parent. -- > Treatment is developing an action plan for each of the pet-parent’s stressful life situations. Begging, annoyance, aggression, and hostage state of the pet. -- > Treatment is “tough love” by the pet-parent.
94 President Oral Presentation Pick: Grazing diverse combinations of tanniferous and non-tanniferous legumes: Implications for beef cattle performance and environmental impact
Authors: Lagrange Sebastian , Beauchemin Karen , MacAdam Jennifer , Villalba Juan J
Published: November 2020

We tested the effect of increasingly diverse combinations of tanniferous legumes (birdsfoot trefoil-BFT, sainfoin-SF) and alfalfa (ALF) on cattle performance, methane (CH4) emissions and nitrogen (N) balance. Pairs of heifers (401 ± 49.6 kg) grazed three spatial replications of 7 treatments (n = 3/treatment): monocultures (BFT, SF, ALF) and all possible 2- and 3-way choices among strips of these legumes in a completely randomized block design of two 15-d periods during 2 consecutive years. Average daily gains (ADG) of heifers grazing the tanniferous legumes (1.05 kg/d) were 40% greater (P < 0.10) than of heifers grazing ALF (0.74 kg/d) during the first year. Heifers grazing the 3-way choice had greater intakes (10.4 vs 7.8 kg/d; P = 0.064) and ADG (1.21 vs. 0.95 kg/d, P = 0.054) than those grazing monocultures, suggesting a nutritional synergism among legumes. The average CH4 emissions for legume monocultures vs. 2- and 3-way choices was 222 vs. 202 and 162 g/kg BW gain (P > 0.10), respectively. For heifers grazing SF and BFT compared with ALF, blood urea N was less (14.3 and 16.8 vs 20.8 mg/dL; P < 0.05) as were urinary N concentrations (3.7 and 3.5 vs 6.0 g/L; P < 0.05), but fecal N concentrations were greater (34.5 and 35.5 vs 30.5 g/kg, respectively; P < 0.05). Combining both tanniferous legumes (SF-BFT) led to the greatest declines in urinary N (2.24 g/L) and urea-N (1.71 g/L) concentration, suggesting that different types of tannins in different legume species result in associative effects that enhance N economy. In addition, heifers grazing 3-way choices partitioned less N into urine (40.7 vs 50.6%; P = 0.037) and retained more N (36.1 vs 25.2%, P = 0.046) than heifers grazing monocultures. In summary, combinations of tanniferous legumes with alfalfa improved animal performance and reduced environmental impacts relative to monocultures, resulting in a more sustainable approach to beef production in pasture-based finishing systems.
346 Sensor-Determined Behaviors and Pasture Intake Estimation in Extensive Grazing Systems
Authors: Bishop-Hurley Gregory J , Alvarenga Flavio A , Valencia Philip , Little Bryce , Dobos Robin C , Ingham Aaron B , Greenwood Paul L
Published: November 2020

Wearable sensor devices to monitor livestock behavior and location in extensive grazing systems can overcome limitations to collection and use of behavior data. These data enable generation of new phenotypes for genetic parameter estimation and decision support tools. Technical challenges, including device hardware and location on-animal, sensor types and modalities, data and power management, and sensor networks to enable measurement of livestock phenotypes in extensive environments, are being addressed. Wearable sensors currently used for behavior classifications include accelerometers, magnetometers and/or gyroscope within inertial measurement units, and pressure and acoustic sensors. We primarily use tri-axial accelerometers because of their reliability and richness of data for feature extraction to classify behaviors. Behavior data combined with GPS also allows location, activity and behavior mapping. Development of livestock behavior classifiers using sensors requires annotation of time-synchronized behavior recordings using video and/or a behavior recording app (e.g. CSIRO AnnoLog). Various analytical methods are used to classify behaviors from sensor data, including supervised machine-learning applied to accelerometer data. Our devices generate data for concurrent classification of behaviors including grazing, ruminating, walking, resting and drinking with reliabilities ≥ 90%. Estimates of pasture intake using behavior data across a range of environments also require validation. We have a facility to concurrently generate benchmark estimates of pasture intake using chemical markers and/or biomass disappearance while recording behaviors using sensors. To date, our R&D using pastures ranging from nutritionally optimal to severely drought affected suggest time spent grazing accounts for up to 60% of variation in pasture intake by individual beef cattle. We are assessing other sources of variation including pasture removal events (bites, tears), classes of cattle, and pasture characteristics to determine if more variation in pasture intake can be explained within extensive grazing systems to enhance development of new traits and applications for precision management.
353 ASAS-EAAP Talk: Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing in local livestock breeds
Authors: Casellas Joaquim , de Hijas-Villalba Melani Martín , Vázquez-Gómez Marta , Lahoucine Samir Id
Published: November 2020

Current European regulations for autochthonous livestock breeds put a special emphasis on pedigree completeness, which requires laboratory paternity testing by genetic markers in most cases. This entails significant economic expenditure for breed societies and precludes other investments in breeding programs, such as genomic evaluation. Within this context, we developed paternity testing through low-coverage whole-genome data in order to reuse these data for genomic evaluation at no cost. Simulations relied on diploid genomes composed by 30 chromosomes (100 cM each) with 3,000,000 SNP per chromosome. Each population evolved during 1,000 non-overlapping generations with effective size 100, mutation rate 10–4, and recombination by Kosambi’s function. Only those populations with 1,000,000 ± 10% polymorphic SNP per chromosome in generation 1,000 were retained for further analyses, and expanded to the required number of parents and offspring. Individuals were sequenced at 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 1X depth, with 100, 500, 1,000 or 10,000 base-pair reads and by assuming a random sequencing error rate per SNP between 10–2 and 10–5. Assuming known allele frequencies in the population and sequencing error rate, 0.05X depth sufficed to corroborate the true father (85,0%) and to discard other candidates (96,3%). Those percentages increased up to 99,6% and 99,9% with 0,1X depth, respectively (read length = 10,000 bp; smaller read lengths slightly improved the results because they increase the number of sequenced SNP). Results were highly sensitive to biases in allele frequencies and robust to inaccuracies regarding sequencing error rate. Low-coverage whole-genome sequencing data could be subsequently integrated into genomic BLUP equations by appropriately constructing the genomic relationship matrix. This approach increased the correlation between simulated and predicted breeding values by 1.21% (h2 = 0.25; 100 parents and 900 offspring; 0.1X depth by 10,000 bp reads). Although small, this increase opens the door to genomic evaluation in local livestock breeds.
108 President Oral Presentation Pick: Select skeletal muscle mitochondrial measures in Thoroughbred weanlings are related to race earnings and sire
Authors: Guy Chloey P , Latham Christine M , Owen Randi N , Fowler Ashley L , White-Springer Sarah H
Published: November 2020

Quantifiable, cellular differences of individuals are not widely used in breeding and training decisions in the equine industry. Our objective was to determine if mitochondrial parameters in weanling Thoroughbreds were related to sire or lifetime race earnings. We hypothesized that weanling skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity would be positively correlated with race earnings. Gluteus medius muscle samples were collected from racing-bred Thoroughbred weanlings (n = 139; mean ± SD; 6.0 ± 0.4 mo) from 40 different sires over 3 years at 5 different farms and evaluated for mitochondrial volume density (citrate synthase activity; CS) and function (cytochrome c oxidase activity) by colorimetry, and oxidative (P) and electron transport system (E) capacities by high resolution respirometry; two- and three-year-old race earnings were available for a subset of 13 horses. Data were analyzed using mixed linear models with sire, sex, year of collection, and farm as fixed effects. Correlations between lifetime race earnings and mitochondrial measures were determined using Pearson Correlation Statistics. A main effect of sire was observed for weanling intrinsic (relative to CS activity) P with complex I substrates (P = 0.04) and the contribution of mitochondrial leak to O2 consumption (FCRL; P = 0.04). A trend was observed for the effect of sire on intrinsic mitochondrial leak (P = 0.09). Race earnings were positively correlated with integrated (relative to mg protein) leak (r = 0.7684, P = 0.009) and FCRL (r = 0.7035; P = 0.02). A trend for a negative correlation between E with complex II substrates and race earnings was also observed (r = -0.4775, P = 0.09), No other measures were influenced by sire, nor were correlated with race earnings. Our previous work has indicated a preferential use of complex I in breeds bred for short-duration racing (Thoroughbreds) compared to distance racing breeds (Standardbreds) that relied more heavily on complex II. Mitochondrial measures in weanlings may be utilized to inform future breeding and training decisions in horses.