HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kincaid, C. M. Articles by Hunt, R. E. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Kincaid, C. M. Articles by Hunt, R. E.

Some Factors that Influence the Production of Steers from Pasture

Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station^,2

Abstract

A factorial design used to measure the effects of three factors (age of feeder, rate of gain during winter and method of grazing) on the gain in weight and carcass grade of steers fattened on pasture shows:

1. That no significant difference occurred in gain between yearling and two-year-old steers, but that the latter were significantly fatter, the difference amounting to of a carcass grade.
   
2. That each pound of winter gain reduced summer gain by .58 pounds and increased annual gain .42 pounds.
   
3. That increasing the acreage from 1 to 3 acres per steer increased gains by 19.6 pounds for each extra acre.
   
4. That no advantage in gain resulted from withholding steers from part of the pasture until July 1.
   
5. That covariance analysis was effective in adjusting variances for variation in winter gain within feeding levels. The adjusted mean squares for error were reduced by 14 and 12 per cent for summer gains and carcass grades respectively.
   
6. That individual feeding may offer a means of increasing precision in feeding trials by reducing the variance within treatments.
   
7. That the factorial was more effiicient in the use of facilities and provided data which had wider application to practical conditionst han would have been the case with a series of single factor experiments. Making the same number of steers answer three questions and also the interactions between them gave information on each question only three per cent less precise than if the same steers had been used to answer one of these questions alone.
   

¹ The authors are Research Associate, Iowa State College and formerly Assistant Animal Husbandman, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Associate Animal Husbandman and Animal Husbandman, Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, respectively. The assistance and advice of Dr. Gertrude Cox, Department of Experimental Statistics, North Carolina State College, in planning the design of this experiment is gratefully acknowledged.

² Blacksburg, Virginia.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. C. Burns Grazing Research in the Humid East: A Historical Perspective Crop Sci., December 2, 2005; 46(1): 118 - 130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]