W1010: Integrated Approach to Enhance Efficiency of Feed Utilization in Beef Production Systems
Statement of Issues and Justification
The overall goal of this cooperative, multi-state, multidisciplinary, research and outreach project is to improve feed efficiency and profitability of meat production in beef cattle. The scope of this project will include measures of feed efficiency (FE) that utilize individual animal to animal variation in feed intake. One of the best characterized of these is known by several terms: net feed efficiency (NFE), residual feed intake (RFI), and net feed intake. We will use RFI throughout this document.We provide here a definition of RFI: Residual feed intake measures the variation in feed intake beyond that needed to support maintenance and growth requirements, and is calculated as the difference between actual feed intake and the feed an animal is expected to consume based on its body weight and average daily gain. Cattle that eat less than expected for their body weight and average daily gain have negative RFI, which equates to improved feed efficiency.
This concept is becoming established, worldwide as the most beneficial approach to improving feed efficiency. This regional project will coordinate efforts across the nation to incorporate elements of genetic improvement in feed efficiency, understanding the interaction of animal life-stage in refining definitions of feed efficiency, understanding the underlying biological drivers of variation in feed efficiency and in interacting with industry to cooperatively disseminate this important information to US beef cattle producers through a strong, integrated outreach program.
This proposal describes the collaborative efforts of nine Agricultural Experiment Stations, and features additional collaboration of international scientists. Major points that support the establishment and continuation of this important, research and outreach project for the next five years are: 1. The project relates to a major agricultural problem. Meeting consumer needs for a high quality product while maintaining profitability of production, decreasing environmental impacts, and minimizing use of natural resources will require improvements in the efficiency of meat production in beef cattle. 2. The project relates directly to the objectives of the CSREES Strategic Plan 2007-2012: Objective 2.1: provide research, education, and extension to expand domestic market opportunities. This project will directly contribute to two of the Key Outcomes of this sub-objective: expand science-based knowledge and technologies to generate high-quality products and processes by: increasing knowledge of biomass conversion, and establishing new integrated research and extension programs. Objective 2.2: provide research, education, and extension to increase the efficiency of agricultural production and marketing systems. This project will directly contribute to two Key Outcomes under this sub objective: increase efficiency of agricultural production system by: expanding information to model feed utilization for animal species, and further understanding the biological role of gene sequences in animals. Objective 3.2: provide research, education, and extension to improve the quality of life in rural areas. This project will directly contribute to the Key Outcome of this sub objective: increased knowledge among county based staff and community leadership in order to provide research-based practices to encourage appropriate community capitol development which enhances business and economic development. Electronic deployment of information to increase the, human and economic capitol available for more nimble and creative community responses to needs. Objective 6.2: enhance soil quality to maintain productive working lands: This project will directly contribute to the Key Outcome of this sub objective: expand and disseminate science-based knowledge and information for management of the nations natural resources and environment, including soil, air and water, in agricultural and range working lands and ecosystems. 3. National importance of building this multi-state project: Across the nation, individual research and outreach efforts with RFI at the focal point, are rapidly expanding. Industry at multiple levels is embracing RFI as a priority for development. Participants in this multi-state project are also playing national roles at multiple levels. For example, the Beef Improvement Federation has established a sub-committee to develop national standards for conducting feed efficiency measurement (several multi-state project participants are members of this committee). Members are also active in various roles in the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium. It will be imperative that this multi-state project plays a leading role in coordinating scientific information and in advising the development of national standards and protocols. In addition, the synergy that will be developed across this large team of researchers will convert projects with local or regional impact to having national and international impact. 4. All of the projects outlined in the following Methods section are technically sound and are in different stages of progress. Many of these have been peer reviewed and are presently contributing impact at the state, regional or local levels. 5. This project is both a multi-state and a multidisciplinary project, involving the effort of investigators at nine different State Agricultural Experiment Stations and international collaborators in Australia and Canada. The Principal Investigators represent a variety of basic and applied science disciplines and outreach expertise that complement each other and provide the skill-sets necessary to complete the objectives. 6. The project will involve a strong cooperative effort between the various units including exchange of reagents, cDNA probes, and an RFI phenotype database as well as the sharing of knowledge and techniques, joint use of equipment and techniques available at particular stations, and joint publication of research results. Numerous collaborative projects are described in the procedures for the proposal. The committee feels strongly that the collaborations in this project would have been substantially more difficult to establish and maintain outside the framework of a funded regional project. 7. The members of the committee have been highly successful in obtaining outside support to fund the research. Funding from the USDA NRICGP Program, and other granting agencies, and industry sources has been essential to carry out the work and to maintain the high level of productivity of the group, and this record of outside funding is expected to continue. 8. This project describes a basic and applied research and outreach approach to an important agricultural problem. The investigators at the cooperating stations have already demonstrated a high level of productivity, and are, thus, capable of making substantial progress towards the objectives outlined in this project proposal. 9. The impacts from completion of this multi-state project will be national and international in scope. This project will contribute scientific rigor to the development of national standards for feed efficiency testing. It will provide unifying standards that will be implemented across national breed associations and state cattle associations. It will contribute to understanding of the underlying biological drivers of variation in feed efficiency and contribute to development of biologically-based predictors and improve the accuracy and reliability of mathematic models to predict feed intake in beef cattle.
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