Iowa Beef Center director column
November 2022
How beef cattle research works
This month we will welcome a new member of the Iowa Beef Center (IBC) team as Dr. Miranda (Randie) Culbertson joins us as our state Extension Cow-calf Specialist. Originally from New Mexico, Randie received her MS and PhD from Colorado State University. Most recently she has been the lead geneticist for the American Simmental Association since 2019. In addition to serving as Extension Beef Specialist, she also will have research and teaching responsibilities in the Department of Animal Science here at Iowa State University. Look for Randie to be out and about this winter at meetings and events as she gets to know the Iowa beef industry.
As extension beef specialists, our main job is to provide research-based information and education to the beef industry. Basically, we keep up to date with current research and translate that into meaningful tools to help producers make better decisions. Beef research may be conducted at universities or private companies. Much of the publicly available beef research is conducted at land-grant universities like Iowa State.
Research can be basic or applied. Basic research is conducted for the sake of new knowledge. Basic researchers can spend an entire career studying a cell, an enzyme or a bacterium. They are driven by their curiosity and being the first to learn something. In the animal science world, basic research often is funded by the USDA, National Institute of Health (NIH) or National Science Foundation (NSF).
Applied research is about changing something like a management practice and measuring the outcome, such as weight gain or reproductive rate. In my world of feedlot nutrition, this is sometimes called “feed ‘em and weigh ’em” studies. Here we can measure differences due to a treatment even though we may not know why, or if the results can be repeated under different conditions. That is why we often summarize multiple studies before making recommendations to producers.
Applied researchers often look to basic research to explain their results. Sometimes a basic researcher discovers new knowledge that has breakthrough applications. Many industry changing technologies were discovered in this way. Applied research can also be funded by the USDA. Of course, the USDA sets the priorities for projects that are funded. Other sources of funding include companies interested in an independent evaluation and testing of their products. While many companies have their own research arms or engage contract research companies, experiments conducted by universities that are published in peer review journals have much credibility to back claims.
When the land-grant universities were established, they developed Experiment Stations. These stations received funding from the federal government to conduct research relevant to the needs of the farmers in their state. Today, however, virtually all research depends on competitive grants. So, the funding agencies (USDA, companies and non-government organizations) determine the research that is conducted based on their priorities.
Thanks to your checkoff dollars, Iowa has the ability to develop research priorities relevant to the needs of Iowa producers. Recently the Iowa Beef Industry Council funded research projects based on priorities relevant to the needs of Iowa producers and set by those producers. These projects are possible because of the $.50-per-head Iowa checkoff. While these projects may not immediately answer all the questions producers have, the program provides a better process for the Iowa industry to be a more active participant in the research process.
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 also follow @iowabeefcenter on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram and now AgFuse.
