AnSci Connection

March 2005

By F. Abel Ponce de León

In the next few issues of AnSci Connection, I would like to focus on the contribution of Animal Products to Human Health. This initiative is in response to the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences' priority of "Promoting Safe and Healthy Foods" and President Bruininks' Initiative of "Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives". For this issue I have asked Drs. Deborah Roeber and Alfredo DiCostanzo to develop the first of these contributions focusing on beef.

The Benefits of Making Beef Part of a Healthy Diet, Healthy Lifestyle

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been released, but what does that mean for the beef industry? First of all, we need to acknowledge that the main issue in the 2005 Guidelines is addressing obesity because two-thirds of the American population is overweight or obese. So, the Guidelines ask Americans to 1) get the most nutrition out of your calories, 2) find a balance between food and physical activity, 3) make smart choices from every food group, and 4) play it safe with food.

From time to time, consumers have a tendency to think that the Guidelines may tell them to stay away from a certain classes of food, such as beef. But, nowhere in the Guidelines does it tell Americans to stay away from meat, rather they indicate that consumers should choose nutrient dense foods, including lean meats and poultry.

A common misperception is that vegetarian diets are lower in fat than meat containing diets. However, a study by Broughton and Barr (1999, Can. J. Diet. Pract. & Res.) indicated that no differences in fat, energy, carbohydrate intake or relative body weight were identified when comparing vegetarian and meat containing diets. In fact, there are several benefits to making meat part of a healthy diet. Beef is a major contributor of Vitamin B, specifically B-12, iron, zinc and protein in most American diets.

Vitamin B. The red meats (beef, pork and lamb) account for 60.6% of vitamin B-12 in the U.S. food supply, 19.9% of vitamin B-6, 15.6% of niacin, 11.2% of riboflavin, and 13.7% of thiamin. Poultry and fish add an additional 13.2%, 13.3%, 17.6%, 4.3%, and 1.9% of B-12, b-6, niacin, riboflavin and thiamin, respectively.

Zinc (Z). Animal foods such as meat, poultry and fish are major sources of bioavailable zinc. A 35% reduction in the total amount of zinc absorbed has been observed in vegetarian women as compared to a non-vegetarian diet. Zinc intake will also vary among the animal foods consumed as beef, for example, as the number one source of zinc in the American diet. When added to the diet, beef provides as much zinc as eleven 3-ounce servings of tuna.

Iron (I). Iron deficiency is among the most common nutritional deficiencies in the U.S. Iron in food is present in two forms – heme iron in meat, poultry and fish, and nonheme iron present in a variety of plant and other animal foods. The absorption of heme iron is much greater than nonheme iron; however, absorption of nonheme iron can be increased by consuming meat in the same meal. Beef, when added to the diet, provides as much iron as three cups of raw spinach.

Protein (P). Meat and other animal foods provide complete protein, while some plant proteins are incomplete or lack sufficient amounts of one or more essential amino acids.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) intake per capita is 173.4 mg/d. Meat, a major source of CLA, accounts for over 97% of CLA consumed, 36% of which is provided by beef. CLA is a derivative of the essential fatty acid, linoleic acid, which may potentially protect against cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and may enhance immune function and reduce body fat.

Eliminating meat from the diet increases an individual’s risk for vitamin B, iron, and zinc deficiencies. The key to a healthy diet is to consume foods to meet the dietary recommendations. So, the next time you are trying to consider whether or not to include meat as part of your meal, look at the benefits that can come from meat – get your ZIP.

As you get your ZIP, you may also want to consider the following facts: cattle are raised on over 800,000 family farms in the USA. Their product, feeder calves, graze over lands that cannot be utilized for crop production and help maintain a delicate balance in grasslands necessary for environmental protection and wildlife habitat. Thus, when a feeder calf is finished at 1250 lb, over 30% of its meat yield is accumulated during foraging and grazing periods of its life, making beef one of the most family farm and environmentally friendly farm animals.

If you would like more information on nutrient-dense beef, visit http://www.beefnutrition.org. 
  

Extension Teams with Board of Animal Health on Animal ID

The Minnesota Board of Animal Health (BAH), the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are working together with producers and industry representatives to implement the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) in the state of Minnesota. The U of M Extension Service is cooperating with BAH and MDA to provide the educational component of NAIS. On February 24, the BAH and U of M Extension, specifically livestock educators, hosted meetings in 14 locations for an afternoon and an evening NAIS Telnet broadcast. The event reached more than 250 producers and was effective in answering the questions that producers have about the animal identification system being proposed.

For more information about the NAIS, see http://www.bah.state.mn.us/index/nais/nais.htm.
  

Animal Science Undergrad Wins Ranelius Scholarship

Hope Kassube, an undergraduate student from Maple Grove, MN, won the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association's Ranelius Scholarship. The Ranelius Scholarship Program encourages students enrolled in a post-secondary educational institution in Minnesota to prepare for a career in the turkey industry. Hope studied at the University of Calgary before transferring here in the Spring of 2003.

Congratulations Hope!
 

Dr. Ismail Serageldin to Speak at Freeman Forum Lecture Series, March 23

Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Librarian of Alexandria (Egypt), was instrumental in integrating agriculture and environmental issues in international development during his tenure at the World Bank. Serageldin will be in Minnesota for the Freeman Forum Lecture Series highlighting the contributions and priorities of the late Governor and USDA Secretary Orville L. Freeman. As part of the Freeman series, Serageldin will give an address titled, "Agricultural Science and Technology: A World Divided?" at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23 in the Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics on the St. Paul Campus. A reception will follow at 4 p.m. The event includes a welcome by Dean Muscoplat and Connie Freeman, an international development specialist on subSaharan Africa, and a discussion session moderated by Phil Pardey, Applied Economics. It's free, but you must pre-register at http://www.freemanforum.org.
  

Get on the Producer Bus!

The Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association (PDHGA) is providing a ride to the 9th National Dairy Calf and Heifer Conference in Sioux Falls, SD. Buses will depart on March 29 and return on April 1, 2005. Cost will be approximately $40-$50 per person. For the details, see http://www.pdhga.org/producerbus05.htm.

The conference, sponsored by the PDHGA, Central Plains Dairy Expo and various ag industries, will take place at the Sheraton Sioux Falls Hotel and Sioux Falls Convention Center. Seminars and exhibits (more than 150 booths) will cover a wide variety of topics including nutrition, breeding, management, health, economics, facilities and labor. This combined event will be the largest dairy event ever conducted in the Central Plains. For more information about the 9th National Dairy Calf and Heifer Conference, take a look at the program schedule at http://www.pdhga.org/2005program.htm.
  

Conference to Focus on Phosphorus Management and Its Role in Agriculture

Farmers, scientists and others with a strong interest in water quality will gather at the U of M St. Paul Campus on Tuesday, March 29, to help chart a path for the use of phosphorus in agriculture. Modeled after the University's successful Nitrogen Symposium two years ago, the Phosphorus Conference will focus on the management of phosphorus and its role in agriculture in Minnesota and surrounding states. National experts will share the latest information on phosphorus and the group will meet to identify knowledge gaps that can spur further research.

Complete details are at http://www.coafes.umn.edu/phosphorus.
 

"Exploring Viable Dairy System Alternatives for Minnesota" is Theme of
W.E. Petersen Symposium, April 25

Dairy management systems vary widely in Minnesota from the tradition 50-cow stall barn to freestall dairies with greater than 2,000 cows. There is an increased interest in low input grazing type systems. The market for organic dairy products has been increasing each year. In addition, more dairy farmers are doing more value added processing of dairy products on the farm.

"Exploring Viable Dairy System Alternatives for Minnesota" is the theme for the 3rd Biannual W.E. Petersen Symposium, which will be held on Monday, April 25, 2005 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. in the Student Center Theatre on the U of M St. Paul Campus. The symposium will address dairy alternatives with regard to economic viability and effects on worker contentment and family life, environment impacts, and effect on cow health and welfare.

The symposium was named for Professor W.E. Petersen, an influential dairy scientist at the U of M during the 1900's. To honor Dr. Petersen, his family generously established a fund with the Department of Animal Science for the purpose of sponsoring dairy related symposia.

Symposium topics and speakers:

Economic aspects of different dairy systems - Steve Harsh, Professor of Economics, Michigan State University

Impact of alternative dairy systems on human resources and operation system management - Bob Milligan, former Economics Professor from Cornell, and current Senior Consultant for Dairy Strategies

Alternative dairy systems and their affect on the family - Sharon Danes, Professor, Department of Family and Social Science, U of M

Environmental aspects of dairy systems - Neil Hansen, Associate Professor, Soil and Crop Science, Colorado State University

Impact of different dairy systems on animal welfare - Dan Weary, Industrial Chair in Animal Welfare, British Columbia University

For additional information, please contact Dana Souther at 612-624-7453 or south005@umn.edu.
  

Correction: Shoffner Memorial to be Held April 30

The Shoffner Memorial will be held on Saturday, April 30, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 732 Holly Avenue, St. Paul.

The family of Dr. Robert and Mrs. Gladys Shoffner will hold a memorial service in their parent's honor. Robert passed away on January 1, 2005; his wife, Gladys, died only 5 days earlier on December 27, 2004. Dr. Shoffner, Department of Animal Science professor emeritus, was nationally and internationally known for his work in poultry molecular genetics.

If you have a favorite memory of Bob or Gladys that you would like to share, please send it to Dana Souther, Dept. of Animal Science, 305 Haecker Hall, 1364 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108 (email: south005@umn.edu).

For further information, please contact Jane Shoffner (651-698-5174 or jmshoffn@ties2.net) or Dana Souther (612-624-7453 or south005@umn.edu).  

(3/24/05)
  

2005 Cow/Calf Days A Resounding Success!

Minnesota Cow/Calf Days held in February was a resounding success with an average of 70 people at each of the ten sites throughout Minnesota, the largest attendance of any previous Cow/Calf Days program. Willie Altenburg (Associate Vice President of Beef Marketing at CRI/Genex) and Roy Wallace (Vice President of Beef Operations at Select Sires, Inc.) discussed the use of expected progeny differences (EPDs). Dr. Cliff Lamb talked about fall calving and Dr. Alfredo DiCostanzo focused on nutrition research performed by the beef team at the U of M. In addition, regulatory topics such as manure management and the National Identification System also were covered. Mindy Spiehs focused on regulations associated with feedlot rules, whereas Deb Roeber and Ryon Walker presented the status of the voluntary ID system in Minnesota.

In addition to a hard-copy proceedings, a CD was also made that included proceedings from the last five years and was offered to producers as an option for reference material. Additional proceedings or CDs are available for a $10 fee by calling the U of M Beef Team (218) 327-4490.

UMore Park is the home of the 2004-2005 Carcass Merit Program (CMP). The CMP provides Minnesota producers with the opportunity to learn about gain performance and carcass data on their cattle. This year, UMore Park houses 127 feedlot cattle. Cattle arrived on November 11 and 19, 2004 and since that time Drs. Alfredo DiCostanzo and Deb Roeber, and graduate students Kevin Thielen and Beka Gill have been following the program through to the finishing stages.

On February 26th, producers attended a field day at UMore Park. The field day provided the opportunity for producers to look at the progress of their cattle in the CMP. The Field Day was attended by this year's CMP participants as well as various producers from around the state. The day started at 9:00 a.m. when the last two pens of cattle were implanted, this was followed by a tour of the feedlot, and then presentations. Presentations were given by Mark Schoenfeld (Beef Concepts, Inc.), Ryon Walker (Regional Extension Educator), and Animal Science graduate students Kevin Thielen, Beka Gill, Nicolas DiLorenzo and Jamie Larson.

Kevin and Beka started off the morning presentations by giving a program summary on how the cattle have been performing thus far. Nicolas gave an overview of his master's and Ph.D. research dealing with polyclonal antibodies that are derived from immunized hens. Nicolas is working with CAMAS Inc. in Le Center, MN. When cattle arrived at the feedlot they were given an intranasal antibody application, produced by CAMAS, to protect them against respiratory diseases. During Nicholas' presentation, he explained the concept behind the intranasal application and illustrated how it works. Mark Schoenfeld covered issues concerning national animal identification and showed how the Carcass Merit Program has been using the Beef Concepts Inc. program, Bovitrak, to read the cattle's radio frequency identification tags to capture chute-side information during processing. Ryon Walker discussed the importance of a breeding soundness examination for bull's being used in the upcoming breeding season and how the test can add additional profit when it comes time to selling next year's calf crop. Jamie wrapped up the presentations by covering a variety of estrus synchronization protocols that can be utilized. Jamie pointed out the costs and the advantages each protocol has to offer and stressed that budget and labor constraints should be considered when choosing an estrus synchronization program for any given operation.
  

Gopher Dairy Club Had Record Attendance at 21st Annual Recognition Banquet

A record attendance of 195 people attended the 21st annual recognition banquet of the Gopher Dairy Club on Sunday, February 13. Emcee was President Sarah Olson. Featured speaker was Sherry Newell, Industry Relations Manager for the Midwest Dairy Association.

Cassie Kuball, club secretary, read the citation and made the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award to Bruce and Mary Larson, Claremont, MN. All three of the Larson's children are graduates of COAFES. Daughter Karen Larson was a founding member of the Gopher Dairy Club and was editor of the first issue of "The Topline", the club's yearbook. Daughter Tina Larson Culbertson was national President of the student affiliate division of the American Dairy Science Association during her senior year as a member of the Gopher Dairy Club and also was 1st place winner in the National Dairy Shrine's Student Recognition program. Bruce and Mary Larson have regularly attended the annual recognition banquet of the Gopher Dairy Club and have been major recruiters of dairy students for the U of M.

Two nominees for National Dairy Shrine's Student Recognition program for 2005 were announced — Amy Hazel and Sarah Olson — and they each received an award plaque from Genex/CRI. Their applications will go forward for national competition. Scholastic recognition was highlighted by the announcement of Jonnie Schefers as the R.W. Touchberry Outstanding Junior in Animal Science for 2005. The senior dairy cattle judging team and dairy management challenge team were also recognized.

Clayton Krause was awarded the Siem Memorial Scholarship of $2,000 for ranking first among those applying for the Gopher Dairy Club's new student scholarships. Also, ten $1,500 new student scholarships were awarded to the following freshmen: Micki Czech, Zach Gunnink, Bridgette Hemmesch, Sheila Lexvold, Brenda Nelson, Katie Olson, Lana Olson, Casey Rickeman, Matt Rosenfeld, and Katie Sexton.

Missy Mussman received the Outstanding Rookie Award, and Sarah Olson and Amy Hazel both received the Outstanding Senior Award. The banquet concluded with a slide show by the 21 senior members of the Gopher Dairy Club who traveled to California for 10 days in early January.
  

New on the Animal Science Web Site

Two new links have been added to the Animal Science Web site:

Meat Lab, located in the Andrew Boss Laboratory of Meat Science, links to a page on the Center for Animal Health and Food Safety web site. There you will find nformation on meat sales — cuts of meat available for purchase and cost per pound.

COAFES Alumni, which links to the College's Alumni Society page, contains COAFES Alumni happenings, a link to the COAFES Alumni Directory, and links to other resources including a link to the U of M Alumni Association.
    

Guowu Xu

Guowu Xu was born in south China and studied Veterinary Medicine at Beijing Agricultural University where he received his Bachelor and MS degrees. Guowu worked for a feed company in China for two years as a technical sales representative. Presently, he is working on a Ph.D. under the direction of Dr. Jerry Shurson.

In 2000, Guowu was married to Jie Xu who graduated from the Department of Animal Science in the fall of 2004. Together they have a child, Peter, who was born in September of 2004.
  

Eb Ballinger successfully defended his MS thesis "Quantification of herd and management characteristics of Minnesota grazing dairies and evaluation through stochastic simulation modeling" on February 25th.

Jeanine Brannon was recently reclassified from Assistant Scientist to Scientist. Jeanine is in charge of the Turkey Nutrition laboratory on the 4th floor of Haecker Hall. Besides her laboratory duties, she also is heavily involved in the activities and research at the Turkey Research Unit in UMore Park at Rosemount.

The University of Minnesota celebrated it's 154th year on February 24, 2005. Happy Birthday U of M! 
 

No new grants to report this month.
  

Department of Animal Science seminars are held on Mondays at 3:00 p.m. in Room 365 Haecker Hall. Everyone is welcome. Please join us.

March

    7 - Mariana Carriquiry, graduate student - Effects of BST and dietary fat in early lactation on lactational performance of Holstein cows
  14 - NO SEMINAR
  21 - Si-Hung Wu, graduate student - Leptin gene polymorphisms and selection for milk yield in Holstein cows
  28 - Katie Schiller, graduate student (title TBA)

April

    4 - Luis Espejo, graduate student - Effect of stall surface on the prevalence and severity of hock lesions in dairy cows housed in free stall barns
  11 - Claudia Ariza-Nieto, graduate student (title TBA)
  18 - Claude Hebron, graduate student (title TBA)
  25 - Thomas Bakken, graduate student (title TBA)
 

March

2 - St. Paul Day at the Capitol. Sign up at http://ga4.org/u_of_m_leg_net/events/stpday/details.tcl or contact Sarah Hustoles 612-625-6710.

16 - Manure Management III-Developing a Plan. Best Western, North Mankato, MN.

17 - Manure Management IV-Software for Manure Management Planning. Best Western, North Mankato, MN.

22 - Manure Management III-Developing a Plan. Holiday Inn, St. Cloud, MN.

22 - Manure Management IV-Software for Manure Management Planning. Holiday Inn, St. Cloud, MN.

15-17 - 2005 Midwest Poultry Federation Convention, St. Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, MN. Contact: Lara Durben, Minnesota Turkey Growers Association at 763-682-2171 or lara@minnesotaturkey.com.

18 - The Twin Cities campus is closed (floating holiday).

23 - Freeman Forum Lecture: Agricultural Science and Technology: A World Divided? - Dr. Ismail Serageldin, 2:30 p.m., Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics, St. Paul Campus, reception at 4 p.m. Free but must pre-register at http://www.freemanforum.org.

29 - Phosphorus Conference, U of M St. Paul Campus. Complete details are at http://www.coafes.umn.edu/phosphorus.

29-April 1 - National Dairy Calf and Heifer Conference / Central Plains Dairy Expo, Sheraton Sioux Falls Hotel, 1211 N West Avenue, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Phone: 877-434-3377; e-mail: pdhga@pdhga.org; web site: http://www.pdhga.org.

April

1-3 - MJHA Convention, Best Western, North Mankato, MN. For more information, send email to: mnholsteins@cloudnet.com or call the MHA Office 320-259-0637.

2-5 - 10th DISCOVER Conference on Food Animal Agriculture: Improving Health Through Dairy Foods, Stone Mountain, Georgia.

9 - Minnesota Holstein Association's Spring Special, Rochester, MN. For more information, send email to: mnholsteins@cloudnet.com or call the MHA Office 320-259-0637.

11-16 - 2005 MN Royal, St. Paul Campus.

15 - State and Federal taxes are due. Why April 15?

21 - Beautiful U Day.

25 - W.E. Petersen Dairy Symposium: Exploring Viable Dairy System Alternatives for Minnesota, St. Paul Student Center Theatre, U of M St. Paul Campus, 1:00-5:00 p.m. Open to the public. For more information, contact Dana Souther at 612-624-7453 or south005@umn.edu.

24-26 - State FFA Convention, U of M St. Paul Campus. As part of the State FFA Convention, several Career Development Events (CDEs) will be held on the U of M St. Paul Campus. Department of Animal Science faculty, staff and students will be involved with the following CDE events: Poultry, Dairy, Livestock, Horse, Meats and Small Animal.

27-30 - 2005 World Pork Congress, Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel.

30 - Note the date & location change: Shoffner Memorial, Unitarian Church, 732 Holly Avenue, St. Paul. Contact: Jane Shoffner (651-698-5174 or jmshoffn@ties2.net) or Dana Souther (612-624-7453 or south005@umn.edu).  

May

3 - Animal Agriculture and Air Quality Workshop I, Holiday Inn, Owatonna, MN.

4 - Animal Agriculture and Air Quality Workshop II, Holiday Inn, Owatonna, MN.

5 - Biofilter Design and Construction, Southern Research and Outreach Center, Waseca, MN.

5 - ECSCC Staff Day at the Arboretum. For more information, contact Elaine Greenfield, emg@umn.edu.

17-19 - Ag Awareness, U of M St. Paul Campus. Contact Beka Gill (gillx018@umn.edu / 612-624-3073) or Jeff Griggs (grig0039@umn.edu / 612-624-1086).

June

10 - Current Issues in Manure Management, Holiday Inn, Alexandria, MN.

14 - Current Issues in Manure Management, Cabela's, Owatonna, MN.

15 & 16 - 4-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference, The Grand River Center, Dubuque, IA. For registration information, contact Wisconsin Agri-Service Association at 608-223-1111. Program information contacts: Randy Shaver, UW-Madison 608-263-3491; Mike Hutjens, U of IL 217-333-2928; Lee Kilmer, IA State 515-294-2116; Jim Linn, U of M 612-624-6789.

20-24 - Animal Science Summer Youth Program: Adventures with Food and Fiber, U of M St. Paul Campus - for ages 11+ years. Contact Jacquie Jacob at 612-624-2766 or jacob150@umn.edu.

July

18-22 - Animal Science Summer Youth Program: Adventures with Food and Fiber, U of M St. Paul Campus - for ages 9-10 years. Contact Jacquie Jacob at 612-624-2766 or jacob150@umn.edu.

25-29 - Animal Science Summer Youth Program: Adventures with Food and Fiber, U of M St. Paul Campus - for ages 7-8 years. Contact Jacquie Jacob at 612-624-2766 or jacob150@umn.edu.