11-28 FB Cow Corn

Rod Hill is a lecturer and researcher in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho with a specialty as a livestock physiologist.  Within that specialty, Dr. Hill  is intrigued with the science of feed efficiency.  I’m David Sparks with the Ag information network.  Dr. Rod Hill is trying to maximize  the efficiency of feeding beef cattle in terms of how much input there is versus outcome regarding size. Obviously this is valuable information to audiences ranging from cattle producers to animal scientists. Here he is: “ In the United States we are at a point where we are trying to decide what is the best way to measure feed efficiency and there is still quite a bit of debate amongst scientists and the industry so it is a big opportunity to provide a lot of benefit to the industry. Many of your listeners know that in 2007 corn, which is the staple for feeding animals in the feedlot, was around $2.50 a bushel. With the advent of corn for ethanol, the price has gone up to around $6-$7 a bushel. With the drought and other factors over the last several months, the price of corn has actually broken through $10 a bushel. So something that was his historically $2 a bushel and is now $10 a bushel and no other feeds are reflecting the increase in the price of corn. So feed efficiency has become much more important element in raising cattle.”