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Since 1986, Iowa farmer
Dick Thompson has demonstrated his innovative on-farm research
to close to 9,000 people during farm tours. “The new ideas
we share come by inspiration and perspiration,” Thompson
says.
– Photo by Jerry DeWitt |
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On-farm research with livestock poses different challenges from
conducting research with cropping systems. While sometimes difficult
to execute, conducting research on livestock systems can yield substantial
rewards if properly carried out.
“I can lay out plots for crop trials: zip, zip, zip, but
livestock work is certainly challenging,” said Dick Thompson,
a diversified farmer from Boone, Iowa, who has conducted on-farm
research for 40 years. Yet, “I have learned a lot about my
livestock (beef cattle and swine) and my farm by doing the research.”
Tom Frantzen, a diversified hog farmer near New Hampton, Iowa,
uses on-farm research to evaluate new methods to produce pork and
beef organically. “If you believe in it, if you have the commitment
and if you have the facilities, on-farm livestock research will
work for you,” he said, “With electric fence and temporary
water lines, it is much easier to set up pasture trials.”
There are several types of on-farm livestock research.
Animal-to-Animal Comparisons
Animal-to-animal comparisons are the simplest and easiest studies
to conduct because you can manage all of the animals in the same
pen or group. The trial has multiple replications because every
animal is a replication. Running tests with individual animals works
well when the treatment can be administered individually, thus each
animal is an “experimental unit.”
For example, if you want to evaluate implants in beef steers,
you would give one-third of the steers implant A, one-third implant
B and no implant to the remaining third. The last group would be
your “control” – or test group that you leave
untreated. Just as in crop research, be sure to apply the treatments
randomly.
In this scenario, you should manage all steers together in one
pen. Each steer would be weighed at implanting, a few times on a
regular schedule, and then at the end of the trial 60 days later.
This trial would enable you to compare, 1) implant A to implant
B, and 2) implants to no implants. The cost of the implant could
be compared to the improvement in weight gain.
Pen-to-Pen Comparisons
Many times, animals cannot be treated individually,
such as a trial when all the animals are fed from one feeder. In
this case, you would designate the pen of animals the “experimental
unit” and use several pens of animals to achieve replication.
Your housing or the size of your herd may be limiting factors for
pen-to-pen studies.
Livestock are important on Thompson’s farm. The cattle and
hogs complete the nutrient cycle by consuming the grain and forage
and returning manure to the land to improve soil tilth and crops.
To learn whether feeding oats to piglets could offset the stress
of weaning, Thompson conducted several feeding trials.
Using a pen-to-pen comparison, he divided a group of nursery pigs
randomly between the pens. He fed one pen a diet with oats and the
other pen a diet without oats. He compared pig weight gain, feed
efficiency, sickness incidence and mortality. He repeated the trial
several times until he decided that using a partial oat diet was
right for his operation.
The experiment compared complete pens, with all pigs in each pen
receiving the same diet. “Weaning is a stressful time”
for piglets, Thompson said. “The oats really help combat that
stress.”
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Comparing two systems under
a SARE grant, paul Klamm found he could earn $15.80 more per
acre planting summer annuals such as oats and barley and grazing
cattle than raising wheat.
Photo by Ken Schneider |
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Seasonal Comparisons
Seasons affect animal performance. Some trials are set up to examine
the seasonal effect of a certain treatment. These trials are often
repeated over several years. Each year of such long-term studies
becomes a replicate.
Tips for on-farm livestock researchers:
 Have
good reliable scales for livestock, feed, forage, etc. Check them
often with something of known weight.
Use
several pens or paddocks of the same size for side-by-side, pen-to-pen
comparisons.
Use
two or more feed storage bins for feeding trials, if you are using
different diets.
Allot
or assign animals to the treatments carefully. The pens need to
be as much alike as possible, with equal numbers of heifers and
steers grouped together in one pen or both larger and smaller
animals included in each pen.
Weigh
animals. Cattle, especially, can have varying amounts of feed
and water, or fill, in their digestive tracts. The rumen in a
mature cow’s stomach can hold 42 gallons, or 350 pounds.
Weigh the cattle in the morning before they are fed, under the
same conditions. If the cattle are on pasture, they should be
penned in a dry lot the night before weighing.
Animals
unexpectedly die during experiments. Record the date, cause of
death and weight of the dead animal as soon as it is discovered.
These records are helpful in accounting for the feed and gain
of the dead animal.
Use
a team approach. Feed suppliers, veterinarians, extension or university
staff and electric fence suppliers make great team members. Link
with other livestock producers with similar interests.
Think
about what you are measuring. Animal growth or weight gain, feed
intake, days on feed and milk production are common measurable
livestock outputs.
Write
it down! “I carry a little notebook with me at all times,”
Thompson said. “I keep my notes and go back to them year
after year.” Observations may be as important as actual
data.
Start
small and keep it simple. Don’t design elaborate comparisons,
particularly at first.
Use
available technology. ATVs, cell phones, ear tags, electric fence,
freeze branding and plastic water pipe make many studies possible.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Analyzing research data involves the use of statistics.
Statistics allow you to determine whether the apparent difference
between treatments occurred because of the experiment or because
of chance variability. Many computer spreadsheet programs conduct
statistical tests.
If an on-farm research experiment involves more than two treatments,
analysis of the data becomes somewhat more complex. But don’t
let that scare you. With help, any farmer can use the more complex
designs to conduct scientifically valid and practical research.
Seek assistance when designing your project, and again for data
analysis. If you do not have access to research professionals locally,
see “Resources”.
“If not done properly, on-farm research can generate inaccurate
and misleading information,” said Rick Exner, a farming systems
specialist with Practical Farmers of Iowa, a group supporting Iowa
farmers who want to carry out their own research. “Done properly,
research will lead to the most promising ways to reduce costs and
improve farm stewardship.”
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