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MU Thompson Farm remains focused on beef breeding improvementsMissouri New ways to improve beef heifer breeding will be top priority in the coming year at the University of Missouri Thompson Farm in Grundy County. The farm advisory committee heard updates on research plans at a Jan. 21 meeting on the farm. David Patterson, MU Extension beef breeding specialist, said the research aims to cut the number of trips through a working chute and improve health and breeding success. Earlier studies at the farm led to calving-ease methods used in the Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program. Those methods are used statewide. Other states are interested in adopting the program, Patterson said. The advisers heard plans to gain value from timberland on the farm and establish wildlife habitat for game birds. "Thompson Farm will remain focused on beef research, but other studies will be added," said Marc Linit, associate dean at the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Columbia. "The farm can attract a broader audience and not lose the emphasis on the beef-cow research." Calving season is under way, with most of the heifers already calved, said David McAtee, farm manager. The heifers are bred first, so they receive more attention for their first calves. There were no death losses in spite of severe winter weather. "We were able to get most of them into the calving barn before they calved," McAtee said. The Drury Research Barn is used both for breeding and calving. Patterson said a new protocol for timed artificial insemination of heifers will be presented at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 29. "That will bring national attention to the work at Thompson Farm. Word-of-mouth news of the protocol has spread among veterinarians," Patterson said. "The interest is like nothing we've seen before." The protocol allows vaccinations for herd health 30 days ahead of the breeding date. The new method eliminates one injection and one trip through the chute. No pre-breeding booster vaccinations should be administered within a month prior to breeding, as these affect the ovaries and compromise fertility. Vaccinations should not be given too close to the breeding season, Patterson said. Timed AI allows a farmer to breed all heifers on one day. This cuts time spent with the herd at calving time, among other benefits. Missourians call the protocol "Show-Me Synch." However, the final title will be set during the NCBA meeting. Work continues on improving pastures and soil fertility on the farm, said Rod Geisert, farm superintendent and head of the Animal Sciences Division at MU. McAtee said the land is being limed first. "Soil tests showed lower needs for phosphorus and potassium fertilizer than we thought." Plans by MU foresters to plant walnut trees on the north side of the farm were discussed. That area will also be planted with stands of native warm-season grasses and forbs to attract quail. Ray Wright, MU research specialist, will lead efforts for demonstration plots of bird habitat. Some plots will be along fences on the road entering the farm. Others will be planted in "fringes" along the woodlands. Wright has added similar habitat to the MU Bradford Farm near Columbia. Quail count and bird populations have grown on the MU crop-research farm.
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