Attached is the 28-day summary for 121 bulls and 14 get-of-sire groups being evaluated in the 2008 Summer Test. Bulls were weighed on June 17 and their average weight was 944 lbs vs. 832 on May 20 for a 28-day ADG of 3.90 lbs. Most bulls are off to a good start, however, the younger, lighter weight bulls are lagging behind. There have been no major health issues, however, 16 bulls have been treated for respiratory problems, and four bulls for feet/lameness issues. As on many of your farms, the test station has been impacted by wet conditions the past several weeks. May rainfall was 10.5 inches and so far, nearly four inches has come in June. The first drying weather has just occurred the past few days.
During the 28-day period, bulls consumed on average, 3.1 lbs of ground hay, 22.2 lbs of corn silage, and 9.7 lbs of concentrate feed (corn grain, DDGS and balancer). Dry matter intake averaged 20.5 lbs daily per bull or near 2.31 lbs DM per 100 lbs of body weight.
Daily feed cost for the period averaged $1.65 per bull. It is and will continue to be, a challenge to keep feed cost in check.
We appreciate the assistance of those who assisted with data collection on June 17: Officers and Directors: Robert Wubben, Jim Day, Jerry Roberts, Byron Fagg, David Smith, Joe Rode, and Kern Hendrix; Extension Educators: Adrienne Held, Brad Shelton, Jerene Gilliam, Jim Ade, and David Redman; Feldun-Purdue Staff: John Dillman, Roger Bartlett, and Richard Huntrods; Others: Dr. Larry Horstman, Dr. Jerry Rusch, Terry Stewart, Paul Ooley, Brian Rosenbaum, Randy Roberts, Rick Roberts, Wayne Singleton, Scott Lake, Allen Bridges, Jessica Guernsey, Jessica Jones, Abby Robinson, and Hunter VonLeer; Amanda Chiprich, Schering-Plough; Dave Puthoff and Tom Greive, Land O’ Lakes Feed LLC. Drs. Horstman and Rusch collected blood for brucella retest on out-of-state bulls, and checked bulls with subpar performance and treated accordingly.
IBEP 2008 Summer Test
Performance Through 28 Days - June 17, 2008
|
Delivery |
On Test |
28-day |
ADG |
Pen |
|
|
|
|
1 |
609.5 |
692.4 |
777.3 |
3.03 |
2 |
825.4 |
906.5 |
1007.9 |
3.62 |
3 |
581.2 |
657.9 |
756.3 |
3.52 |
4 |
701.4 |
776.9 |
899.4 |
4.37 |
5 |
776.3 |
861.3 |
979.2 |
4.21 |
6 |
849.9 |
925.8 |
1044.2 |
4.23 |
7 |
965.1 |
1038.8 |
1157.1 |
4.22 |