Browsing by Subject "Livestock"
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Item A Case Study Comparing Participants vs Non-Participants of the Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador Program in Relation to Animal Science Knowledge, Leadership, Career Development, and Higher Education Knowledge Gained(2013-11-25) Isbell, Elizabeth AnnSelected former Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassadors as well as former Texas 4-H members that are currently enrolled in Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University participated in an interview to determine the effectiveness of both programs in relation to several specific aspects. Five former ambassadors were selected from each institution, resulting in ten total participants. Just as well, five former 4-H members were selected from each institution resulting in ten total control group participants. The focuses of the study related to the following four criteria: 1) How did the T4HLA Program (or Texas 4-H Program) benefit the participants in terms of college preparation? 2) How did the T4HLA Program (or Texas 4-H Program) prepare the participants for determining a career path within agriculture? 3) How did the T4HLA Program (or Texas 4-H Program) allow you to develop leadership skills? 4) How did the T4HLA Program (or Texas 4-H Program) provide information specifically related to animal science knowledge? The results of the study verified the benefits of the T4HLA Program in relation to the targeted areas of higher education knowledge gained, leadership skills developed, agricultural careers explored, and practical animal science knowledge gained. The benefits of the program ensured that a very practical set of skills were being disseminated to the participants. Just as well, the 4-H member?s development in relation to life skills (public speaking, communication, team work, etc.) was magnified during their 4-H membership as well.Item A Study Of Texas Youth Livestock Exhibitors Knowledge Within The Constructs Of The Quality Counts Assessment(2013-08-09) Ragland, J. DerrickA Study Of Texas Youth Livestock Exhibitors Knowledge Within The Constructs Of The Quality Counts Assessment. (August 2013) J. D. Ragland, B.S., M. S. Chairman of Advisory Committee: Dr. Steve Fraze. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the current Quality Counts program and assessment. This on-line training and assessment is a required program of completion for all youth exhibiting livestock at all major livestock shows in Texas. The studies additional purposes was to evaluate assessment results of participants within their respected age groups and club affiliation, and to identify their relationships of the four program objectives as well as the three research objectives outlined for this study to determine where curriculum improvements maybe needed. It was concluded that the Quality Counts program needs revision to be a more effective tool for youth exhibiting livestock.Item A study of the breeding efficiency of bulls in the Texas Tech bull stud(Texas Tech University, 1950-12) Baumhardt, Roland E.Not availableItem An assessment of recruitment and training practices of the National FFA Livestock Career Development Event(2006-08) Rayfield, John; Fraze, Steven; Brashears, Michael T.; Davis, Chad S.; Lawver, David; Jackson, Samuel P.Career Development Events (CDE’s) are FFA activities that are used to showcase knowledge and skills gained by agricultural education students. These competitive venues are useful teaching tools for agricultural education teachers and can serve as a great recruitment opportunity for these teachers. This dissertation investigates and assesses recruitment and training practices used in 2005 National FFA Livestock CDE. One hundred fifty-five FFA members from 40 states participated in this census study. Forty-three teams registered to participate in the 2005 National FFA Livestock CDE. Ninety-three percent of the contest participants responded to the survey. The 2005 participants of the National FFA Livestock CDE completed a researcher-designed questionnaire. The first section contained demographic variables such as age, gender, and population of community. The second section of the survey dealt with how the students were recruited to be a member of their FFA chapter's livestock judging team. Students reported which factors were most important and least important in terms of their recruitment to the Livestock CDE team on a 16 question four-point Likert-type scale. The third section of the survey consisted of training practices that were used to train team members for the 2005 National FFA Livestock CDE. Participants reported how beneficial certain training practices were in their preparation for the contest on 15 Likert-type scale items. The researcher found that there was a moderate correlation between the recruitment factor competitiveness and team emblem earned at the contest. There was also a moderate correlation between working out with college livestock judging teams as a training practice and team emblem and moderate correlations existed between the demographic variables of years of involvement in livestock judging, prior livestock judging experience, and 4-H and junior FFA livestock judging experience as they relate to team emblem. Communication scores had a substantial correlation with team emblem and cognitive and evaluation scores both posted moderate correlations with their relationship to team emblem. Regression analysis was used to predict factors leading to a gold emblem placing at the National FFA Livestock CDE. Competitiveness and good study skills were significant recruitment factors in predicting team emblem. Working out with college livestock judging teams proved to be a positive training practice while video judging practices yielded negative significant results. Four demographic variables were significant in the regression model. Number of years involved in livestock judging, gender, and grade point average all showed a positive impact on predicting team emblem. Participants who reported they were best at judging cattle saw a negative impact on team emblem. Recommendations include developing a teacher resource guide for training CDE teams and distributing findings to current and pre-service agriculture education teachers. Further research is recommended to follow-up on participant’s post-secondary education choices and their career choice based on participation in the National FFA Livestock CDE.Item An assessment of recruitment and training practices of the National FFA Livestock Career Development Event(Texas Tech University, 2006-08) Rayfield, John; Fraze, Steven; Davis, Chad S.; Lawver, David; Jackson, Samuel P.; Brashears, Michael T.Career Development Events (CDE’s) are FFA activities that are used to showcase knowledge and skills gained by agricultural education students. These competitive venues are useful teaching tools for agricultural education teachers and can serve as a great recruitment opportunity for these teachers. This dissertation investigates and assesses recruitment and training practices used in 2005 National FFA Livestock CDE. One hundred fifty-five FFA members from 40 states participated in this census study. Forty-three teams registered to participate in the 2005 National FFA Livestock CDE. Ninety-three percent of the contest participants responded to the survey. The 2005 participants of the National FFA Livestock CDE completed a researcher-designed questionnaire. The first section contained demographic variables such as age, gender, and population of community. The second section of the survey dealt with how the students were recruited to be a member of their FFA chapter's livestock judging team. Students reported which factors were most important and least important in terms of their recruitment to the Livestock CDE team on a 16 question four-point Likert-type scale. The third section of the survey consisted of training practices that were used to train team members for the 2005 National FFA Livestock CDE. Participants reported how beneficial certain training practices were in their preparation for the contest on 15 Likert-type scale items. The researcher found that there was a moderate correlation between the recruitment factor competitiveness and team emblem earned at the contest. There was also a moderate correlation between working out with college livestock judging teams as a training practice and team emblem and moderate correlations existed between the demographic variables of years of involvement in livestock judging, prior livestock judging experience, and 4-H and junior FFA livestock judging experience as they relate to team emblem. Communication scores had a substantial correlation with team emblem and cognitive and evaluation scores both posted moderate correlations with their relationship to team emblem. Regression analysis was used to predict factors leading to a gold emblem placing at the National FFA Livestock CDE. Competitiveness and good study skills were significant recruitment factors in predicting team emblem. Working out with college livestock judging teams proved to be a positive training practice while video judging practices yielded negative significant results. Four demographic variables were significant in the regression model. Number of years involved in livestock judging, gender, and grade point average all showed a positive impact on predicting team emblem. Participants who reported they were best at judging cattle saw a negative impact on team emblem. Recommendations include developing a teacher resource guide for training CDE teams and distributing findings to current and pre-service agriculture education teachers. Further research is recommended to follow-up on participant’s post-secondary education choices and their career choice based on participation in the National FFA Livestock CDE.Item Analysis of livestock and cotton businesses at Lubbock, Texas: with emphasis on educational needs(Texas Tech University, 1966-08) Horton, Tom H.In 1961, the late President Kennedy appointed a panel of 25 consultants to make a study of all the programs in vocational education. This panel concluded that agriculture is no longer based on production alone but on all phases of the agricultural industry. Upon the recommendations of this panel, the Perkins Bill was drafted and passed, being called the Vocational Education Act of 1963. The same amended the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 and the George-Barden Act of 1946 in several ways. It provided more money than either of the two previous acts, but more important, it provided for transfer of funds from one category to another and provided that money allotted agricultural education could be used for agricultural training without a supervised farming program. In other words, the Act of 1963 increased the training opportunities of vocational agriculture. Students enrolled in vocational agriculture could receive training for an agricultural occupation without having a supervised farming program.Item Benefits and career goals of Texas FFA members who were on winning livestock judging teams(Texas Tech University, 1997-08) Myers, Scott M.By allowing students to participate in the FFA Contests and on Judging Teams, educators are providing their students an opportunity to enhance their leadership abilities, as well as public speaking skills. Contests can be an important part of agricultural education in classroom instruction when it is included as part of the curriculum. The best way to evaluate contests and find how they affected the participants lives, is to survey the winners of the contests. This study sought to evaluate the winners of state livestock judging teams.Item Case Studies on the Effects of Climate Change on Water, Livestock and Hurricanes(2014-07-25) Yu, Chin-HsienThis dissertation investigates the agricultural impacts of climate change in three ways addressing water implications of mitigation strategies, feedlot livestock productivity vulnerability induced by climate change and dust and welfare effects of altered tropical storm frequency and intensity. Even though mitigation alleviates GHG emissions and ultimate climate change, it also has externalities and can alter water quantity and quality. The first essay focuses on examining the water quality and quantity effects of mitigation strategies. This is done using quantile regression and sector modeling. The quantile regression result examined land use change and showed that an increase in grassland significantly decreases water yield with changes in forest land having mixed effects. In the sector modeling we find that water quality is degraded under most mitigation alternatives when carbon prices are low but is improved with higher carbon prices. Also water quantity slightly increases under lower carbon prices but significantly decreases under higher carbon prices. The second essay examines the effects of climate change and dust on feedlot cattle performance plus the benefits of dust control adaption. A linear panel data model is used to see the relationship between climate and dust with cattle sale weight. We find that hotter temperatures and increased dust levels generally worsen cattle live sale weight. Dynamic programming is then used to estimate the benefits of dust control. The results show that dust control activity is beneficial. Additionally, climate change is found to be damaging and a factor that reduces dust control benefits. The last essay applies a demand model to investigate the economic consequences of tropical storm strikes on the vegetable market in Taiwan. Findings are that tropical storm strikes raise vegetable prices and in turn cause consumer loss and producer gain. Also higher intensity storms generally have larger impacts than lower intensity storms. Finally possible climate change induced intensified tropical storms or increased storm frequencies were found to result in a more severe welfare loss.Item Economic evaluation of an integrated cropping system with cotton(Texas Tech University, 2005-12) Martin, Rebekka; Lansford, Vernon D.; Segarra, Eduardo; Johnson, Jeff; Allen, Vivien G.; Harman, WyatteCotton is the primary crop in the Southern High Plains of Texas. Increased irrigation of cotton has reduced the Ogallala aquifer water supplies. The reduced levels of the aquifer have led to an increased cost of producing cotton as depth of pumping increases over time, causing farmers to look for alternative crop production systems that reduce water demands from the Ogallala aquifer. The objectives of this research were to investigate the profitability and risk of an integrated system with crops and livestock compared to monoculture cotton production and to evaluate the environmental effects of the two systems. The economic performance of each system (monoculture cotton vs. integrated crop-livestock system) was evaluated using biophysical crop growth model to simulate yields for 20 years. A sensitivity analysis for 9 price levels (high, average, and low at 10%, 30%, and 50% price variability) was used for cotton, cattle, and grass seed production to evaluate the sensitivity of the two systems to price changes. Stochastic dominance with respect to a function (SDRF) was used to compare the risk efficiency of the integrated and monoculture systems. Crop production and environmental effects were modeled using WinEPIC Version 3.0.Item Effects of the Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador Program on 4-H Youth and the Perceived Impact on Leadership Skills, Livestock Production Knowledge and Agricultural Career Development(2012-02-14) Zanolini, WilliamSelected 4-H youth participated in the Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador program. Forty six youth attended one of the 2011 Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador Short Courses held on the campuses of Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University. The three-day short course is in an intense introduction of animal science principles delivered by university professors and staff, Texas AgriLife Extension faculty and industry representatives. Upon completing the short course, the students must contribute 30 hours to youth livestock projects and Texas animal agriculture. Two instruments were developed to evaluate the perceptions of the participants regarding their perceived impact of the program on: 1) livestock production knowledge gained, 2) career development, 3) understanding of higher education, and 4) leadership development. The students perceived the Texas 4-H Livestock Ambassador Program to increase their understanding of livestock production knowledge, career development, higher education and leadership development. The results of the study validate the need for advanced educational opportunities to develop high school aged 4-H members in the state of Texas.Item Influences of vitamin A and gonadal steroids on beef cow embryos(Texas Tech University, 1997-05) Brown, Brent ScottThe cattle embryo transfer industry has grown rapidly since the advent of nonsurgicial methods of flushing donors and transferring embryos to recipients in the early 1970's. Superovulation, which increases the number of embryos that can be recovered, has made the process commercially feasible. This practice is often accomplished by injections of follicle stimulating hormone(FSH) or pregnant mare serum gonadotropins(PMSG)(Curtis, 1991). However, the response to superovulation is extremely variable both within and between cows. A treatment which could consistently increase the number of transferable embryos, would be a significant benefit to the embryo transfer industry and to the genetic improvement of cattle. As in the male, where artificial insemination increases the number of progeny from genetically superior animals, superovulation and embryo transfer could be used to increase the number of offspring from superior females leading to faster genetic improvement. The success rate of transfer in cattle is much higher than in any other species (Curtis, 1991).Item Policy for Effective Disposition of Estrays(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 1999) Hinkle, DannyItem Policy for estray livestock and fence law violations(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 2002) Wunderlich, RogerItem Preservice and inservice livestock show needs for beginning agricultural science teachers in Texas(Texas Tech University, 2000-08) Leech, James CodyAgricultural science teachers in Texas have the responsibility of advising, making recommendations, and selecting quality animals for the students' livestock show project. Therefore, it is imperative that teachers in Texas stay current with research and new and improved methods of instruction. If agricultural science teachers are not competent in the area of livestock show programs, they will not be able to deliver an acceptable quality of instruction to their students.Item The composition of certain livestock feeds in use at Texas Technological College in 1949(Texas Tech University, 1950-08) Bonner, Melvin CNot availableItem The effects of whole cottonseed on performance, carcass characteristics, and shedding characteristics of Escherichia coli O157 by finishing beef steers(Texas Tech University, 2003-12) Cranston, Jacob JohnOne hundred twenty crossbred beef steers (initial body weight = 230.3 ± 18.0 kg) were used to determine the effects of whole cottonseed (WCS) supplementation on performance, carcass characteristics, and the prevalence of Escherichia coli 0157 in the feces and on hides at slaughter of finishing beef steers. The three dietary treatments included: (1) a standard finishing diet (STD); (2) a diet containing 15.10% whole cottonseed (WCS): and (3) a whole cottonseed equivalent diet (EQU) formulated to contain percentages of fat and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) equal to those in the WCS diet. Cattle were on feed for an average of 120 d. A randomized complete block design was used with pen as the experimental unit (eight pens/treatment). Results reported here are for the period from d 0 to slaughter. A difference among treatments was detected for dry matter intake (DMI; P = 0.056). Steers fed the WCS diet consumed more feed than steers fed the STD or EQU diets (P < 0.091). No differences were detected among treatments for average daily gain (ADG; P = 0.521), carcass-adjusted ADG (P = 0.305), or feed efficiency, expressed as feed:gain. (P = 0.225); however, a difference was detected among treatments for carcass-adjusted feed efficiency (P = 0.009). Separation of the treatment means revealed that cattle fed the STD treatment used feed more efficiently (P < 0.01) on a carcass-adjusted basis than steers fed the WCS or EQU diets. No differences (P > 0.10) were detected among treatments for hot carcass weight, fat thickness at the 12"' rib, longissimus muscle area, percentage of kidney, pelvic, and heart fat, liver abscess score, and USDA yield and quality grades. Differences were detected among treatments for dressing percent (P = 0.061) and marbling score of the longissimus muscle (P = 0.058). Steers fed the STD diet had higher dressing percents (P < 0.058) than steers fed the WCS and EQU diets. Additionally, steers fed the STD diet had higher marbling scores (P < 0.081) than steers fed the WCS and EQU diets. No differences were detected (P > 0.229) among treatments for the presence of £. coli 0157 detected at any sampling period during the study. These results indicate that unless an adjustment is made for total dietary fiber, finishing cattle fed a diet containing supplemental WCS will likely consume more feed and gain similarly to cattle fed a standard finishing diet. These data also indicate that WCS will likely have no effect on the prevalence of £. coli 0157 in beef cattle.