New developments in measuring the energy efficiency of the beef industry

Rachael Van Horn writes in the Woodward News (from Woodward, Oklahoma) about a new device that can help beef producers optimise their operations. Interestingly, there are only 50 of these devices worldwide. Given the size of the global beef industry, these technology breakthroughs are welcome.

Device will measure energy efficiency

An apparatus meant to help beef producers choose the most efficient forage and help their cattle perform at optimal levels is being used by the Southern Plains Range Research Station in Woodward.

The device is called a calorimeter and there are only 50 of its particular kind in the world, said USDA pasture and forage expert and researcher Stacey Gunter.

This calorimeter measures the efficiency of how range cattle are metabolizing the forage grasses they are consuming using the chemical compounds present in the breath of the cow when they reach into the device to get a bite of feed.

“Really, it is remarkable and we are so fortunate to have this here at our station,” he said.

Others are in countries such as New Zealand, many European countries, and about half of them are in use in the United States. Some will also be going to Brazil, he said.

There are other calorimeters in use all over the U.S., Gunter said. Indeed, some fitness locations use the device to measure calories consumed when an athlete is exercising.

“You’ve seen them, they are the thing over their face with the long hose going to a machine,” he said.

At the USDA research station in Bushman, Texas, there is a calorimeter in use somewhat like the kind at fitness centers, only measuring methane release because that is that station’s stated objective at this time, he said.

But the calorimeter at the Woodward station is special because it not only measures the Co2 and the Methane that is released by a cow, but it also measures the level of oxygen consumption as well,” Gunter said. This is important because it tells the researcher how efficiently the cattle are able to utilize the grass or feed they are consuming while still functioning at the optimal level.

“Now this machine was originally designed to measure methane release by cattle because that is an important issue much more so in other countries than this country,” Gunter said. “They (other countries) are just way ahead of us on that issue.”

Before readers march down to the Woodward researcher’s office and hurl insults at Gunter, allow him to explain why methane released from the animal is an important bit of knowledge.

“We can reap great benefits by understanding this better,” Gunter said. “Knowing methane released improved reducing of methane released in units per product produced is improved efficiency and improved efficiency is cost savings.”

That means quite simply, the more efficiently cattle use the forage planted or fed on a pasture, the less the land is impacted and the producer reaps a better financial gain, Gunter said.

Gunter is especially interested in the use of an emerging crop here that used to be a simple rotation crop – canola. At present

Gunter hopes to have his data compiled by fall, he said.

In the end, Gunter’s research adds up to being able to hand producers data that allows them to know how to plant the kinds of forage that are most efficiently used by cattle, thereby allowing the most weight gained on a pasture while also not over grazing it, he said.

According to Gunter, the idea is to gain the data to show which types of forage are most efficiently utilized by cattle. In particular, with the increase in Oklahoma of Canola, the interest is determining if uncrushed, whole canola seed might produce an even better efficiency in cattle and ultimately better weight gain.

At present, Gunter has only started compiling data. The device is near Fort Supply where the range cattle are being tested.

“What’s really exciting is that we can actually measures energy efficiency in field of grazing cattle,” he said. “When I first started at the extension, we always made the comment that protein supplements are the most expensive resource. But, you know, I have come to realize over the years that actually, energy intake is our most expensive resource, even if it is grazed, because it cost a lot of money to own land.”