NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
September 23, 1999
A new computer program offered through North Dakota State University can give cattle producers a glimpse into the future to help them make decisions about management changes.
"The program gives producers a chance to crystal ball a little and say, `What would happen if I changed this or that in my operation?'" says Russ Danielson, a North Dakota State University animal scientist. "The program gives them an idea of the implications of making those kinds of changes."
The program, Decision Evaluator for the Cattle Industry, was created by researchers at the USDA's Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska. It builds on earlier programs developed as early as the 1970s at Texas A&M University. Danielson says the USDA researchers have updated the program and included the USDA's vast collection of breed information. With support from the National Cattleman's Beef Association, the program is being distributed free to producers through state Extension Services. "The program contains the best and most complete collection of beef production information available," he says.
Danielson will present information on the program at the NDSU Dickinson Research Extension Center Livestock Research Roundup which begins at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. The roundup will be held in the auditorium of the Agriculture Building on Dickinson State University's West Campus. For a listing of the full program, including exact times of presentations, call (701) 483-2348.
Danielson says the program is not for novice computer uses and requires a significant amount of information on the operator's herd. "The producer who will get the most out of this program is one who is already involved in the Integrated Resource Management program or some other form of economic and production performance evaluation," he says.
"The more accurate your estimates of feed intake, feed quality, breeding data and other management information, the more accurate the results will be from the program," he says.
Once information about a producer's herd is entered into the program, it's a relatively simple matter to project how management changes affect the herd and profitability. Producers can project how changes in breeding, feeding, grazing and other management programs will impact herd productivity and profitability for up to 20 years.
For more information on the program, attend the Dickinson Research Extension Center
Livestock Research Roundup on Thursday, Sept. 30, contact Danielson at (701)
231-7648; or contact your county office of the NDSU Extension Service.
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Source: Russ Danielson (701) 231-7648
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629