SDSU Extension Helping Cattle Producers Grow Bigger, Better Beef

Warren Rusche would contend that some of the best cattle in North America are born in South Dakota. That gives Rusche and the rest of the applied feedlot research group at SDSU a unique opportunity, and they are making the most of it. 

“We consider ourselves very fortunate that we have access to exceptionally high-quality cattle to do this research with,” said Rusche, Assistant Professor and SDSU Extension Feedlot Management Specialist. “We think our niche is exploring the upper limits of beef productivity and performance.”

Rusche and Zach Smith, associate professor of Animal Science, lead the active research team, which includes 10 graduate students and utilizes several different locations. On campus, there is the Ruminant Nutrition Center, which can hold up to 400 head, and the Cow-Calf Education and Research Facility, which has fluctuating numbers. 

The team also typically does one to two studies per year at the Southeast Research Farm by Beresford, which has 24 outdoor pens and eight partially covered pens that usually hold 200-280 head. Rusche said because the research farm has crop production and livestock facilities, it allows them to do unique studies – this spring, for instance, they will test different silage options. 

Cattle are an important part of agriculture in South Dakota, and SDSU Extension’s research looks at region-specific ways producers can improve their operations. One of those is by analyzing feeds that are commonly grown and available in the area. Earlage, for example, is a high-moisture, fermented feed that is unique to the Midwest. Rusche said the team is close to publishing their results on their latest study about earlage uses, which will be available to cattle producers. 

“In my opinion, livestock feeding, cattle in particular, is one of the more effective rural development tools available for us in rural America,” Rusche said. “This is another way for us to try to help create those opportunities for the citizens of South Dakota.”

Other research includes using processed soybean feedstuffs in growing and finishing cattle, which Rusche said has yielded interesting results. The team has looked at feeding rye to cattle – an area of research where SDSU has led the nation.