Denise Schwab, interim IBC director column

Denise Schwab in The Cattleman Magazine

January 2024

January is here and with the new year is a celebration of ICA. Congratulations on 50 years of supporting and advocating for Iowa’s cattle producers! Congrats also on a great Leadership Summit last month. It is always great to renew old friendships and visit with cattle producers across the state!

January also is the busy meeting season. The Iowa Beef Center has a lot of major conferences this month including the Feedlot Forum in northwest Iowa on January 16, Three-State Conference in southwest on January 17, Driftless Region Beef Conference in northeast on January 25 & 26, and the Cornbelt Cow-Calf Conference in southeast on January 26 & 27. I hope you join us at one of these. We also have several calving clinics, Cattle in the Green, Boots in the Barn and BQA programs going on this month.

This month I’d like to introduce you to Chris Clark, our beef field specialist from southcentral Iowa. Chris grew up in Monroe County on the typical southern Iowa farm with cattle, hogs, hay and crops. He participated in 4-H showing cattle, and in sports and extra-curricular activities. Chris attended ISU focusing on the sciences and was accepted into vet school as a junior and graduated with his DVM in 2004. He practiced in central Iowa for a few years before taking a job teaching the vet tech program at Sanford Brown College in Fenton, Mo. where he taught for 3.5 years. Chris joined ISU Extension and Outreach in 2012 as the beef specialist for southwest Iowa and transferred over to south central Iowa five years ago to be closer to family. He views working for Extension as a great opportunity to continue working in the field of education but with a focus on beef cattle production which is really his greatest professional interest and something he really enjoys.

Some of Chris’ major programs are the Update for Veterinarians, Calving Workshops, Beef Quality Assurance, and Beef Management 101.  He is most proud of his work with individual producers and serving as their trusted resource for beef information. Chris shared with me, “I love feeling that I’ve really been able to help.  I find it fulfilling to educate, encourage, and hopefully inspire the next generation.” He also values the relationships he has developed with clients over the years.Outside of work, Chris enjoys basketball, running, swimming, and attending his son’s school and 4-H activities.

January is also a good time to review the major research projects we are working on. Thanks to the Iowa checkoff, we have four projects funded by IBIC’s research program:

  • Heifer Development using carcass ultrasound as an indicator for heifer reproductive performance
  • Starch and Digestible Fiber-based Supplementation Impact on First Calf Heifer Performance and Nutrient Mobilization Through the Production Cycle
  • Early Life Impacts on Beef × Dairy Performance and Assessment of Challenges for Beef × Dairy in Iowa
  • Impact of Chopping Corn Residue During Grain Harvest on Cattle Performance when Grazing Residue in cooperation with the University of Nebraska

Three other projects are:

  • Evaluating the Environmental Impacts of Cattle Grazing on Conservation Reserve Program Fields in Iowa-Funded by USDA-FSA
  • Match Made in Heaven: Livestock and Crop Integration funded by SARE
  • Interseeding Sudangrass into Perennial Pasture to Boost Productivity funded by Iowa Soil Conservation & Water Quality Committee

Watch for research results in the coming year. And as always, the best location to see all the upcoming programs we are working on at the Iowa Beef Center is our webpage www.iowabeefcenter.org. We hope to see you on the road!

The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.