April 18, 2014
CONTACTS: Don Hubbell, Director, Livestock and Forestry Research Station
870-793-7432, dhubbell@uark.edu
Fred Miller, Division of Agriculture Communications
479-575-5647, fmiller@uark.edu
Field day presentation videos:
http://batesvillestation.uark.edu/7211.htm
Beef producers hear research reports during
Division of Agriculture livestock field day
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas beef producers aren’t known for being
squeamish. Nevertheless, it was probably best that animal science professor Tom
Yazwinski waited until after lunch to discuss his research on parasitic worms.
Yazwinski was the last presenter at a livestock field day held April 15 at the
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Livestock and Forestry
Research Station near Batesville.
About 95 people attended the field day to hear about division research aimed at
improving cattle health, reproduction and profitability.
Yazwinski said he considered titling his presentation, “It’s a great time to be a
parasite.”
“There have been no new treatment compounds developed for worms since
1982,” Yazwinski said. Parasitic worms have had more than 30 years to develop
resistance to the existing medicines, he said, and they’re pretty good at it.
Parasite control is important, Yazwinski said, because worms can cause a lot of damage
and even death to cattle. He said it’s not possible to eradicate parasites, but they can be controlled
to maintain healthy cattle.
Yazwinski focused his discussion on five nematode worms common to Arkansas. “All
five of these can kill your cattle,” he said.
Common effects on cattle include anorexia, reduced feed efficiency, blood and tissue
loss, reduced productivity, and reduction of immune response that can, among other things, make
cattle susceptible to secondary pathogens and illnesses.
Despite the lack of new medicines, Yazwinski said producers can employ strategies to
control parasitic worms. He emphasized that producers need to give their cattle the proper
dosages of medicine. “Especially, don’t under-dose,” he said. Under-dosing parasite medicines
encourages resistance, he said.
In addition, Yazwinski said parasite treatments should not be administered in the summer
or winter. These are periods of low worm activity in pastures. The medicine will kill the
susceptible worms and leave only the resistant worms inside the cattle, which continue to
reproduce resistant offspring.
Treating for worms in the fall and spring, when there are active parasites in the pastures,
means that cattle will ingest more susceptible worms that will dilute the populations of resistant
worms remaining in the cattle.
Producers should also sample their cattle’s feces to test for parasite eggs, Yazwinski said.
Egg counts are the most efficient means of determining when cattle require treatments for worms.
Yazwinski said drug companies are researching new medicines for parasite control,
though it’s unknown when they will be available or how effective they will be.
Earlier in the field day, Tom Troxel, associate head of the department of animal science,
gave an update on the Division of Agriculture’s “300 Days of Grazing” demonstration program.
The program, now in its sixth year at the Livestock and Forestry Research Station, aims to show
how pasture management can permit beef producers to keep their cattle on pasture for 300 days or
more each year.
Troxel said the programs goals included maintaining a 90 percent net calf crop, averaging
550 pound weaning weights and reducing supplemental feeding to 60 days or less per year.
The key to the program, Troxel said, is to inventory pastures and, if necessary, develop
them to keep a good ratio of warm and cool season forages. He said soil testing coupled with
fertilization by season maintained proper soil fertility for quality pastures. Using electric fences to
manage cattle movement in the pastures and testing forage for proper nutritional value were also
important.
The result, for the demonstration project is that cattle could graze in the station’s pastures
more than 300 days in all but 2013. Last year, Troxel noted, was a severe drought that damaged
pastures.
In the previous four years, cattle grazed on pastures for as many as 337 days, reducing
hay feeding days to as little as 28. Troxel said purchases of supplemental feed were reduced to
zero.
Percentages of pregnancies and calf crops, after the first year, were maintained at or
above the 90 percent goal, except for 2013, because of the drought, Troxel said. Also, weaning
weights topped the 550-pound goal beginning in the second year of the program.
Troxel said the program allowed the division to gain about $2,500 in value added for its
demonstration herd.
Information about “300 Days of Grazing,” including regular updates, can be found online
at www.arkansas-livestock.com or www.arkansas-forages.com, Troxel said. Visitors to the site
can sign up to receive email updates.
Other presentations during the field day included the use of CTC mineral for springcalving cows on stockpiled KY31 fescue, growth-promoting technologies for stocker cattle,
performance of fall-born calves weaned in the morning or in the evening, and the
influence of growth-promoting implants on development and reproduction of low-weight
beef heifers.
Videos of all the field day presentations can be viewed online at:
http://batesvillestation.uark.edu/7211.htm.
News releases and photos are available online at
http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/392.htm
livestock field day10.jpg
Dr. James Caldwell of Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., discusses research with
Dr. Shane Gadberry, extension animal scientist, during a University of Arkansas System
Division of Agriculture livestock field day.
livestock field day54.jpg
Dr. Tom Yazwinski, an animal scientist for the Division of Agriculture, discusses control
products and strategies for parasitic worms in cattle during a University of Arkansas
System Division of Agriculture livestock field day.