LEWIS, Iowa -- What do fabric-topped hoop buildings and growing beef cattle have in common?  The beef systems comparison study at the ISU Armstrong Research Farm.

At the suggestion of beef producers in southwest Iowa, researchers from Iowa State University (ISU) are studying the comparative costs and performance of beef cattle raised in semi-confinement open feedlots and inside a fabric-covered hoop building. The objective of the study is to determine the cost, performance and environmental impacts of raising cattle in a bedded building with fabric top compared to more conventional housing types.

Researchers will share information about the building, the study and lessons learned with the first group of cattle at a field day on  Aug. 23, from 10 a.m. until noon. Study participants including animal scientists, engineers, economists and herdsmen will discuss the details of the beef systems study and the data from the first group of cattle. Producer questions and discussion will be encouraged. A light lunch will be available after the field day, followed by the annual meeting of the Tri-County Steer Carcass Futurity Cooperative.

The ISU Armstrong Research Farm is located 0.5 mile south of US Highway 6 and two miles west of state Highway 48, west of Lewis, Iowa.  For more information, contact ISU Extension specialists Shawn Shouse or Darrell Busby at (712) 769-2600, or at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/southwestarea/

The beef systems comparison study is a cooperative effort by ISU, the Wallace Foundation for Rural Research and Development, the Iowa Cattlemen's Association, the Iowa Beef Center, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Cover-All Building Systems and local beef producers and agribusinesses.

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