RSS 1.0Animal Systems
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Arizona Cooperative Extension is an outreach arm of The University of Arizona and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). The repository collection includes current and historical Extension publications on these topics: Animal Systems; Consumer Education; Farm Management and Safety; Food Safety, Nutrition and Health; Gardening/Home Horticulture; Insects and Pest Management; Marketing and Retailing; Natural Resources and Environment; Plant Diseases; Plant Production/Crops; Water; and Youth and Family. Current publications are also available from the Cooperative Extension Publications website.
QUESTIONS?
Contact College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Publications at pubs@cals.arizona.edu.
Recent Submissions
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Human Disease Causing Viruses Vectored by MosquitoesThere are a number of disease-causing viruses transmitted to people primarily through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Female mosquitoes take blood meals to produce eggs. A mosquito that bites an infected animal may pick up a virus within the blood meal. If the mosquito is the appropriate species, and conditions inside the insect and the surrounding environment are supportive, the virus reproduces within the mosquito. Later, the mosquito may pass the virus on to other animals (including humans) as they feed again.
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A Summary of Livestock Grazing Systems Used on Rangelands in the Western United States and CanadaThe objectives of this article are to provide an overview of the major grazing systems that have been used on rangelands in the western U. S. and Canada, to summarize the conditions under which they may be applicable, and to highlight examples from the southwestern U. S. when relevant. Revised 12/2014. Originally published 09/2000.
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Using Repeat Color Photography as a Tool to Monitor RangelandsThis article provides an introduction to repeat color photography and explains how it can be used as an important part of a comprehensive rangeland monitoring program. Reviewed 12/2014. Originally published 05/1998.
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How Do Domestic Herbivores Select Nutritious Diets on Rangelands?Animal learning has been shown to play a major role in the development of diet selection by domestic herbivores. Dr. Frederick Provenza and his associates at Utah State University have conducted a series of studies over the past 30 years to learn how physiological and behavioral mechanisms govern diet selection. In this paper, we synthesize several key diet selection concepts presented in 4 articles (i.e., Provenza et al. 1992; Provenza 1995, 1996, 1997). Reviewed 12/2014; originally published 05/1998.
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Laboratories Conducting Soil, Plant, Feed, or Water TestingThis publication lists laboratories that provide soil, plant, feed, and water testing within the state of Arizona. Revised September 2016.
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Clostridial Diseases of CattleVaccinating for clostridial diseases is an important part of a ranch health program. These infections can have significant economic impacts on the ranch due to animal losses. There are several diseases caused by different organisms from the genus Clostridia, and most of these are preventable with a sound vaccination program. Many of these infections can progress very rapidly; animals that were healthy yesterday are simply found dead with no observed signs of sickness. In most cases treatment is difficult or impossible, therefore we rely on vaccination to prevent infection. The most common organisms included in a 7-way or 8-way clostridial vaccine are discussed below. By understanding how these diseases occur, how quickly they can progress, and which animals are at risk you will have a chance to improve your herd health and prevent the potential economic losses that come with a clostridial disease outbreak.
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Arizona Seasonal Passes for Exhibition LivestockFrequently asked questions and answers regarding the Arizona Seasonal Pass application. Any Arizona resident exhibiting cattle, goats, sheep, or swine at any Arizona show or fair is required to obtain a Seasonal Pass.
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Better Coverage of Arizona's Weather and Climate: Gridded Datasets of Daily Surface Meteorological VariablesMany areas that use agricultural and environmental science for management and planning – ecosystem conservation, crop and livestock systems, water resources, forestry and wildland fire management, urban horticulture – often need historical records of daily weather for activities that range from modeling forage production to determining the frequency of freezing temperatures or heavy rainfall. In the past, such applications primarily have used station-based observations of meteorological variables like temperature and precipitation. However, weather stations are sparsely and irregularly located throughout Arizona, and due to the highly variable terrain across the state (Figure 1), information recorded at these sites may not represent meteorological conditions at distant, non-instrumented locations or over broad areas. This issue, along with others related to quality, length, and completeness of station records, can hinder the use of weather and climate data for agricultural and natural resources applications. In response to an increasing demand for spatially and temporally complete meteorological data as well as the potential constraints of station-based records, the number of gridded daily surface weather datasets is expanding. This bulletin reviews a current suite of these datasets, particularly those that integrate both atmospheric and topographic information in order to better model temperature and precipitation on relatively fine spatial scales, and is intended for readers with knowledge of weather, climate, and geospatial data. In addition to addressing how these datasets are developed and what their spatial domain and resolution, record length, and variables are, this bulletin also summarizes where and how to access these datasets, as well as the general suitability of these datasets for different uses.
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Barn Smarts for Biosecurity: Tips for Keeping Your Horse Safe and HealthyBy making several simple horse care changes, you can significantly decrease your horse’s risk of exposure to disease. Using the tips below, you may prevent your horse from being exposed to sick horses while away at a show. If your horse were to bring a virus home, proper Biosecurity practices could result in just one sick horse, as opposed to a whole barn full. The intent of this article is to inject a little humor while providing key common sense tips on Biosecurity. Each tip is accompanied by an easy to remember theme and cartoon. These changes seem small but they can make a big difference in protecting the health of your horse. .
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Veterinary Feed Directive Changes for Arizona Livestock ProducersFrequently asked questions and answers regarding the Veterinary Feed Directive changes taking place January 1, 2017.
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Sustainability of the Beef IndustryThe beef industry has done a good job of improving the sustainability of the beef industry over the past 22 years. This fact sheet summarized the changes that have been made.
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DroughtView: Satellite-based Drought Monitoring and AssessmentRemotely sensed data are valuable for monitoring, assessing, and managing impacts to arid and semi-arid lands caused by drought or other changes in the natural environment. With this in mind, we collaborated with scientists and technologists to redevelop DroughtView, a web-based decision-support tool that combines satellite-derived measures of surface greenness with additional geospatial data so that users can visualize and evaluate vegetation dynamics across space and over time. To date, users of DroughtView have been local drought impact groups, ranchers, federal and state land management staff, environmental scientists, and plant geographers. Potential new applications may include helping to track wildland fire danger. Here, we present the functionality of DroughtView, including new capabilities to report drought impacts and share map information, as well as the data behind it.
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Arizona Ranching Budgets 2016The dependency of Arizona ranchers on federal lands has been well documented. Mayes and Archer (1982) estimated that public and state grazing lands outside of the Indian reservations account for 85% of the total grazing land in Arizona. The partnership between private ranchers, state lands, and the federal government comes with many complex factors that influence the cost of doing business both in terms of variable and fixed costs. Not only are the regulations, fees, and enforcement of regulations a challenge for managing mixed land ownership, but additional costs from vandalism, theft, and daily disruptions of operations add to the normal operating expenses (Ruyle et al., 2000). Ownership and maintenance of range improvements, such as wells, spring development, and dirt tanks, etc., is also complicated by the rangeland ownership mix. This study is designed to examine the cost of ranching for different geographic areas in Arizona and show how different production costs exist throughout the state.
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Rabies in Arizona: Equine Risk and PreventionThe Informed Arizona Equestrian Horse Health Series was designed to bring up to date information on issues of importance to the horse owners of Arizona and beyond. Rabies has been identified in horses in Arizona (most recently Santa Cruz county in 2016), and is not only fatal for horses, but also can affect the humans handling those horses. It is often overlooked as a possible diagnosis due to the nonspecific early signs of infection. Find out how to protect you and your horses from this devastating disease.
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Management Factors to Improve Range Cow ReproductionEvery ranch has unique labor and range resources. It is important to develop a nutrition and management program that is well matched to each individual ranch. Doing this can dramatically improve reproduction and ultimately the economic return to the ranch.
