Livestock

Twenty-one 4-H & FFA members participated in the annual Advanced Cattle Feeder Class on Monday, June 8 at the Edgewood Livestock Commission in Edgewood.  Animals were weighed and ultrasound scanned, and the youth worked with ISU Extension and Outreach staff and feed industry representatives to calculate their total cost of production. Many exhibitors in the 4-H & FFA market beef show see only the show ring aspect of beef production, not the real-world aspects of feeding cattle for today’s marketplace.  The Advanced Cattle Feeder Class focuses more on the real-world aspects of feeding to a target market, focusing on the cost of production, and meat quality.

Fourteen 4-H & FFA members participated in the annual Advanced Cattle Feeder Class on Monday, June 10 at the Edgewood Livestock Commission in Edgewood.  Animals were weighed and ultrasound scanned, and the youth worked with ISU Extension and Outreach staff and feed industry representatives to calculate their total cost of production.  They used their actual feed fed with fixed costs for many feed ingredients, yardage, chute costs, feeder prices, and their actual costs for any additional costs.  The youth were then interviewed by a judge while the carcass results of their calves were calculated.  The judge placed the youth based on their knowledge and interview skills, their cost of production, calf performance, visual conformation of the cattle and market readiness.  A showcase was then held to exhibit their animals for the audience with the participants explaining the performance and costs for their project, and the judge sharing his comments and thoughts.