From ARPAS President Marit Arana, PhD, PAS 

Time has been flying by for me. It is unbelievable that my term as President of this organization is already half over. I would like to encourage all of you to participate in ARPAS. The nominating committee is looking for volunteers and may contact you to ask for help. Members may also contact me (marit.arana@algilbert.com) or any of the other governing council members if you would like to volunteer for service to ARPAS.

Remember that your continuing education units (CEUs) must be turned in to the society every year to remain a current member of ARPAS. Members are required to earn16 CEUs per year, and a maximum of 16 CEUs can be carried over to the next year. The simplest way to report CEUs to ARPAS is through the ARPAS website (http://www.arpas.org/member.asp?view=ceu_reporting). I turn in my hours through the web site shortly after they are earned to ensure I remember to report them all.

Please help us get our new ARPAS logo out in the world. It is available to use on business cards, on stationery, and in advertising materials. Please contact Susie Rahn(susier@assochq.org) at the ARPAS office, and she will arrange for you to be sent the logo file.

I would like to publicly thank Carl Hunt for stepping into the role of ARPAS Treasurer. I am very appreciative of his continued service to our organization.

I wish everyone a very happy holiday season.

From Executive VP Kenneth R Cummings, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN 

At this time of year ARPAS members need to assess whether they deserve a lump of coal in their boot or a big “THANK YOU” from their clients, customers, students, peers, or family. With the current “energy crisis,” a lump of coal may be welcomed but a pat on the back is a lot more reassuring. Your career in animal agriculture is not getting any less challenging and your time is probably being spent on issues you wish you could get Santa to take rather than give.

The above paragraph is just to call your attention to the people that depend on you for assistance, advice, help, and care, and to give you pause for thought as to whether they are all getting a fair share of your time and talents. Your professional organizations also need a share of your time and expertise.

ARPAS is a people-directed and dependent organization. With a couple of exceptions, it is dependent on the volunteer services of its 1500+ members to staff the various committees and governing council to run the organization and provide the people-power to accomplish our mission. In the coming year, give some thought to volunteering some of your valuable time to serve on a committee, proctor ARPAS exams, organize a chapter, visit a sponsor, talk to a prospective member, or visit an animal science department and enlighten the students (and faculty) about the importance of becoming a “Professional Animal Scientist.”

The opportunity to shape the direction of ARPAS is yours for the asking. About every five years, ARPAS leadership puts together a committee to develop a long-range plan (typically a five-year plan) to assess where we are, where we want to be, and how we are going to get there. A chairperson will be appointed by your president and committee members will be selected. If you have an interest in serving ARPAS on this ad hoc committee or on one of the standing committees (listed on the website) or wish to be considered for nomination to an elected office, please contact me or a member of the governing council.

This is also the time of year to renew your membership in ARPAS and to record your ARPAS Continuing Education Units (CEUs). This can be done on the ARPAS website (www.arpas.org): go to Membership Services and then to Renew Your Dues Online or CEU Online Submission. You will need to know your membership number. A New Year’s resolution that is easy to keep would be “I will record my CEUs as I acquire them” by using the ARPAS website. You need 16 CEUs each year to satisfy your continuing membership in ARPAS. We are continually adding to the list of meetings approved for ARPAS CEUs. If you are not certain about the number of CEUs approved for a given meeting, send us an email with the program attached and we will evaluate the program for credits.

This also the time of year to send in information (preliminary program or final program) on meetings you are planning that might qualify for ARPAS CEUs. We would certainly like to add them to our list of approved meetings on our website. By pre-approving credit, you can list this information in your final program as well.

New PAS/RAS Members 

From ARPAS Membership Committee Chair Warren Gill, PhD, PAS

New members are our future! Some of us have been around for quite a while and we deeply appreciate our long time members, but we must have new members to thrive. ARPAS is unique and necessary and we must continue to take that message to our colleagues, particularly as they enter the profession.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

New ACAS Members 

From ACAS President Michel Etchebarne, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN

Since January 2008, ARPAS has certified three new members with diplomate status in the American College of Animal Sciences.   CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

Treasurer's Report  

From Carl Hunt, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN, ARPAS

It is a pleasure for to serve as the treasurer of ARPAS. I accepted the duty of treasurer in August so I am still learning my duties, but you should know that former treasurer Keith Lusby left the organization’s finances in very good condition. Regular member dues remain the lifeblood of ARPAS. As of October 31, revenue from dues totaled $158,207 compared with a budgeted amount of $112,000. Revenue from page charges for articles published in the PAS journal is expected to be marginally greater than budgeted because of a greater than expected number of pages printed. This revenue will be largely offset by the per-page cost of producing the journal. Our investments lost value, as did everyone else's; our unrealized investment loss year-to-date on October 31 was $56,693. Despite this loss, greater than expected revenue for the year allows us to be optimistic about finishing 2008 with revenues and expenses in near balance. Look for final details on the 2008 financial status to be reported in the first ARPAS newsletter of 2009.

Examining Board Chair's Report 

From Steve Schmidt, PhD, PAS

A lot of progress has been made during 2008 by subcommittees that are reviewing and revising the ARPAS species exam question databanks. The horse, goat, sheep, swine, and beef subcommittees have completed revisions of exam questions. Study guides have been developed for beef, dairy, horse, and sheep and are on the ARPAS website. Others will be developed as species subcommittees finish their work. Traditionally, new exams were generated by randomly selecting questions from the entire databank of questions, which occasionally resulted in too many questions on one subject and another subject was then ignored. One change being made as each review is completed is that each question is assigned a general topic area, such as nutrition, physiology, management, etc. When new exams are generated we will set criteria to make sure that the selected questions will cover a wide range of topics. Susie Rahn also is tracking individual questions on exams so we can determine whether there are particular questions that are being missed with a high frequency. The overall examination process should be improved. Anyone who hears comments from exam takers about problems with an exam that should be addressed, please let Susie Rahn or me know. This would include questions that are not clear, confusing answer choices, a topic not being covered that should be, or too many questions on a topic area. We are continuing to work to make the exams fair and representative of the topic area. I urge the subcommittees still working on the exam questions to finish their work as soon as time allows.

In 2008 (through December 9), a total of 196 written examinations have been administered. The majority of these (185) were for beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses, and feed management certification.

Remember, any ARPAS member can recruit new members and administer a species exam! Susie Rahn (susier@assochq.org) can provide you with the appropriate information.

PAS Editor-in-Chief's Report 

From D. Wayne Kellogg, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN

Volume 24 of the Professional Animal Scientist (PAS) was completed recently with 684 pages. There were fewer pages than the 742 pages published in volume 23, largely due to smaller issues early in 2008 compared with 2007. Review papers were published on animal identification systems, diurnal grazing pattern, body condition scoring of dairy cattle, and heat-treating colostrum for calves. Additionally, papers on air and water quality in animal feeding operations that were presented at the 2007 ARPAS Symposium were included. There were 57 research articles and 21 case studies published during 2008. The average time required was 38 days to the first decision and 81 days from submission to the final decision (acceptance or rejection) of a manuscript.

The PAS journal seeks articles from a broad base and includes experiments that relate to applied problems in the animal sciences, including dairy, poultry, meat animals, horses, and other species. In 2008, the 51 articles concerning the beef industry dominated the issue. However, there were 17 articles relating to dairy cattle, 10 applied to swine, 4 were about other species (sheep, yak, and goats), and 4 about forages.

The research papers should be about procedures on important topics that are ready, or nearly ready, for application. Admittedly, applicability is difficult to determine in some cases. Research papers must be based on adequately replicated studies, and that has been the primary cause for rejection of a manuscript. Data on which papers are based must be from original unpublished research, case studies, field trials, scientific literature, or a combination thereof. Data gleaned from the literature are acceptable only if pooled for the purposes of analyzing, summarizing, and interpreting. Any member of FASS may submit articles; otherwise, articles must be sponsored by an ARPAS member or the ARPAS Governing Board.

Case studies and technical notes are acceptable when they have unique applications in any area of animal agriculture or a related discipline. These manuscripts should have literature citations, although they are usually more limited and generally more recent than technical reviews or original research manuscripts. The topic of the case study can be biological or economic, or it may deal with public or producer attitudes and perceptions.

Letters to the Editor, policy, statements, or book reviews from ARPAS members or PAS subscribers will be published in a special section. Letters may offer comments or questions about articles previously published in PAS, technical questions requesting a scientist’s response, or educational notes about new or innovative approaches in teaching, extension, or industry programs.

A long-standing criticism of the Professional Animal Scientist has been accessibility of the information. As more issues were published, this became a greater problem to readers. In early September 2008, we completed the transition to HighWire Press, and PAS can now be accessed at http://pas.fass.org/ . Issues are available from 1997 to 2008, and searches for articles can be made by author or by topic. The list of selected articles is presented, and you can designate those for which you want the abstract or listing for a citation manager. Additionally, you can request notification of new articles matching your search. HighWire also provides a gateway to other services, and requests have been made to improve visibility of PAS via abstracting services.

So, spread the word! We would like more high-quality, applied research papers submitted to the journal at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/pas.

California ARPAS Chapter Activities 

From Barbara Barton, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN

2008 ARPAS California Chapter: Continuing Education Conference

Approximately 160 people attended the California Chapter ARPAS Continuing Education Conference held October 30 and 31, 2008. The conference featured an in-depth examination of nutrient management on livestock operations. The presentations focused on how increasing efficiencies help to minimize excretion of N, P, and K per unit of production (meat, milk, fiber, or eggs). On day one, Dr. Gerald Huntington (North Carolina State University) reviewed how nutrient supply and peripheral tissue signaling affects efficiency of nutrient utilization in ruminants. Dr. Phillip Miller (University of Nebraska) discussed a similar topic, but he focused on nutrient utilization in monogastrics. Dr. Randy Buddington (University of Memphis) reviewed how the nutrient milieu reaching the hind gut impacts nutrient utilization and animal health. Speakers on the second day included Dr. Alan Rotz, Denise Mullinax, and Don Sapienza. Dr. Rotz (USDA-ARS) demonstrated a model for determining nutrient utilization on dairy operations. Denise Mullinax (assistant director of CA Dairy Quality Assurance Program) reviewed the current CAFO regulations. Don Sapienza (Sapienza Analytica) updated conference attendees on the status of the joint project being conducted by CA-ARPAS, University of California-Davis, California State University-San Luis Obispo, and Sapienza Analytica on the characterization of alfalfa hay quality. Information regarding the conference and the 2008 proceedings are available at the CA-ARPAS website http://www.arpasca.net/. Eight ARPAS CEU were assigned to the meeting. The 2009 meeting in will be held October 29 and 30 at the Inn at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, California.

California Chapter ARPAS Awards Two Scholarships at the 2008 Annual Continuing Education Conference

Thomas O’Hare, PhD candidate in the Department of Animal Sciences, UC Davis, was awarded the ARPAS Memorial Award based on his thesis research on “Cytogenetic analysis of mega-telomere profiles within and between chicken genotypes.”

Jolene Berg of the Animal Biology Graduate Group at UC Davis was awarded the Kutches Memorial Award based on her thesis research “Development of an industry wide salt study for compliance with General Order R5-2007-0035.”

Each awardee presented an overview of their thesis research to the CA-ARPAS attendees.

New Officers for 2008-2009 California ARPAS Chapter

John Miller is the incoming president of CA-ARPAS for 2008–2009. Other new officers include Dennis Ervin, president elect; Barbara Barton, secretary/treasurer; and Bill Vogt, director-at-large. Matt Kelly, who served as president for 2008–2009, was thanked for his leadership over the past year. He will stay active with CA-ARPAS in an advisory role as past-president. Sonda Sibole was also thanked for her service to CA-ARPAS as the outgoing secretary/treasurer. Travis Taylor is continuing in his role as director-at-large.

Southern Great Plains Chapter Activities 

From N. Andy Cole, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN

The Southern Great Plains Chapter of ARPAS cosponsored (with Plains Nutrition Council, Texas Animal Nutrition Council, and Texas AgriLife Research) the Feed Management Workshop titled “Feed Management as a Part of a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan” for beef cattle and dairy cattle nutritionists held in Amarillo on October 16, 2008. The workshop provided information on how to write the feed management component of the comprehensive nutrient management plans required by USDA-NRCS for many animal feeding operations. Speakers included Joe Harrison and Rebecca White of Washington State University, Emalee Buttrey of Texas AgriLife Research in Amarillo, Leigh Cranmer of USDA-NRCS in Lubbock, and Andy Cole of USDA-ARS, Bushland, Texas.

Penn State Nutrition Conference held November 2008 in Grantsville, PA 

From Lisa Holden, PhD, PAS

The Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference was held November 12–13, 2008, in Grantville, Pennsylvania. Attendance at this year’s conference was 487, including 149 ARPAS members. Zinpro Performance Minerals sponsored the preconference symposium, which began with a presentation about “Dairy Financial Times” by Gary Genske of Genske, Mulder & Co. LLP. Zinpro speakers, Dana Tomlinson and Mike Socha, followed with presentations about trace mineral needs, impact on the immune system, and importance in dairy cattle, and Nigel Cook from the University of Wisconsin rounded out the symposium with “Time budgets for dairy cows.”

The main conference speakers provided information about relevant topics, such as water quality issues for dairy cows, mycotoxins in forages, and communicating with consumers. In addition to main conference sessions, this event had a wide array of break out sessions with a many different topics. Conference attendees customized their educational experiences by choosing two workshops each afternoon based on their individual interests and educational needs. Workshops allow attendees to interact with speakers, participate in discussions, and get more in-depth details about subject matter. Workshop topics ranged from Forage Analysis 101 to “Are the right cows leaving your herd?” and “Novel feeding systems for dairy heifers.” With nearly 30 workshops to choose from, attendees easily found topics that appealed to them.

Agribusiness professionals attending this year’s conference also had the opportunity to take the exam to become ARPAS members. Prior to the conference this year, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Water Program’s feed management team consisting of Penn State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Maryland offered a Feed Management Planners workshop for nutritionists and consultants. Any ARPAS-certified dairy nutritionist was eligible to attend the training and to take the feed management planner’s exam.

Next year’s conference is schedule for November 11–12, 2009. More information about the 2008 conference can be found online at: http://das.psu.edu/das/dairy/dairy-nutrition/continuing-education/workshop.

T.W. Perry Honored as Purdue Distinguished Alumni 

From Bill Price, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN

Purdue Department of Animal Sciences honors T. W. Perry, PhD, PAS, as a distinguished alumni in November 2008. The Purdue University Department of Animal Sciences presented six individuals with the 2008 Distinguished Animal Sciences Alumni Awards at an awards ceremony that took place on November 21, 2008, on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.

“The distinguished alumni program provides an opportunity for the animal sciences department to honor outstanding alumni and provides our students with an opportunity to learn how alumni have led successful careers," said department head Alan Grant. "We look forward to honoring these alumni for their outstanding achievements.”

One of the three recipients of the Lifetime Career Award was ARPAS member T. W. Perry:

Tilden Wayne Perry, PhD, PAS, of Van Buren, Arkansas. Perry earned his master’s degree in 1948 and doctorate in 1950, both in animal sciences from Purdue. He spent 43 years serving the Purdue Department of Animal Sciences in research and teaching. Perry’s accomplishments include 150 published abstracts, 161 scientific papers, 323 departmental publications, and four university textbooks. He was a charter member of ARPAS and served as secretary (1984–1989), treasurer (1984–1993), editor (1984–1989), and historian (1994–2004). Perry served on the National Academy of Science/National Research Council Committee on Animal Nutrition, and was active in the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) and the editorial board of the Journal of Animal Science. Perry has earned three ASAS awards for his work, including the Gustav Bohstedt Award for Minerals (1978), American Feed Industry Nutrition Research Award (1980), and the F. B. Morrison Award (1990). He was inducted into AFIA’s Liquid Feed Hall of Fame in 2004 and has been referred to as the “father of liquid supplements for cattle.”

2009 ARPAS Symposium Report 

From Randy Shaver, PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAS

ARPAS is sponsoring a symposium titled “Feed Management: ARPAS, NRCS, and The National Project” during the 2009 joint ADSA-CSAS-ASAS annual meeting in Montreal. ARPAS and NRCS have recently renewed their Memorandum of Understanding with regard to the NRCS Feed Management Program, which is a component of comprehensive nutrient management planning. ARPAS also has recently implemented a new Certification in Feed Management for members who desire to write NRCS-approved feed management plans for clients. The objectives of this symposium are to 1) share perspectives of ARPAS, NRCS, academia, and consultants regarding the Feed Management Program and the corresponding ARPAS Certification; 2) highlight outreach, translational research, and consulting experiences related to the Feed Management Program; and 3) create an opportunity for dialog to occur between NRCS and members of the joint societies interested in the Feed Management Program. Invited speakers include Glenn Carpenter (USDA-NRCS), Joe Harrison (Washington State University), Virginia Ishler (Penn State University), and Charlie Stallings (Virginia Tech).

ARPAS Molly 

Collaborators in the dairy industry are needed to help develop new aspects of Molly, the dynamic mechanistic computer model of a dairy cow created at UC Davis. Some of the areas to explore are using Molly to formulate dairy rations, examine experimental designs to simulate product testing trials, and compare feed attributes such as rumen degradation rate, passage rates, and metabolizable energy estimates. Currently, Molly is available in a user-friendly form that operates independently. It has been used to teach dairy nutrition, ration evaluation, and prediction of nitrogen excretion and methane production. Because it is dynamic, the model can formulate diets that optimize milk income over feed costs over a lactation. The model can also simulate production from a group of cows to examine experimental designs before running an experiment or testing a product on real cows. The model also estimates rumen degradation and passage based on mechanisms representing microbial fermentation and degradation. If you are interested in collaborating in one of these areas or have other interests relating to the model, please contact Heidi Johnson (hajohnson@ucdavis.edu). Matching funds may be available for companies with a presence in California.

California ARPAS Alfalfa Hay Study 

The alfalfa hay quality characterization project, coordinated by CA-ARPAS in conjunction with University of California – Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Sapienza Analytica, received mention in the August 11, 2008 issue of Feedstuffs - Volume 80, pages 12-13. In an article on “Energy Evaluation: Theory vs. Reality” written by Dr. Bill Mahanna, included a section on the project. An excerpt from this Feedstuffs article is provided below and reprinted by permission of Tim Lundeen. Also attached is an update on the project provided by Dr. Carl Old and Don Sapienza at the CA-ARPAS Continuing Education Conference in October 2008.

California ARPAS

Alfalfa hay marketed in California is currently sold on TDN, which is estimated from fiber content. Studies conducted by the University of California-Davis in the 1950s indicated that the single proximate entity most highly correlated with TDN was modified crude fiber. At that point in time, the use of a single entity to estimate quality was understandable.

Since the 1980s, acid detergent fiber (ADF) has been used to estimate TDN. Chemical entities comprising ADF are not constant and vary with season and stage of maturity. Alfalfa hays with the same ADF content can vary dramatically in digestibility. The current system is antiquated due in part to the efforts of geneticists and agronomists who have developed new alfalfa hay varieties.

The California chapter of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS), in conjunction with the University of California-Davis, California State Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo and Sapienza Analytica, has undertaken a project to update the method used in California to better characterize alfalfa hay quality.

A series of studies are planned with the goal of estimating metabolizable energy of alfalfa hay from near-infrared reflectance spectra. These studies employ both in vivo and in vitro methods to measure disappearance of organic matter, dry matter as well as rate, site and extent of digestibility of selected chemical and proximate entities.

Sampling alfalfa hays for both the in vivo and in vitro studies, representing the diversity seen throughout California, began in April and will continue until this fall. It is expected that the in vitro portion of this study will be completed by the middle of 2009 and that the in vivo study will be completed by early 2010.

California ARPAS is funding this project via corporate sponsorships and also by holding a series of raffles.

Current methodology used to evaluate alfalfa hay in California is unchanged from the system developed at UC Davis in the 1950s, with the exception that acid detergent fiber (ADF) is the proximate entity of interest, not modified crude fiber. The goal of this study is to develop a system to calculate metabolizable energy from digestible energy. In turn, digestible energy will be calculated from apparent degradability (de) of each crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) times their respective caloric density. Apparent degradability will be measured for each sample from rate, site, and extent of digestion. The initial feedstuff will be pure-stand alfalfa hay and will employ measuring methods based on near infrared spectrophotometry (NIRS).

Samples were collected during 2008 from throughout California and represent the diversity seen in the reported nutrient content of alfalfa hay. Data from laboratory Dairyland Laboratories Inc. (Arcadia, WI) for 3000 alfalfa hay samples from throughout the United States show a range in crude protein content of from 14.7 to 24.6%; our range is from 11.8 to 24.6%. The ADF range was greater for the California ARPAS samples (20.5 to 51% vs. 24 to 39%). The range of NDF was also greater in the California ARPAS samples, 41.4 points of NDF versus 19.1 for Dairyland’s 3000 samples. Of special interest is the range in presumed hemicellulose (calculated as the difference between NDF and ADF). In the California samples, the range is 4 times greater in than in the 3000 samples collected from throughout the United States. It is commonly believed that the presumed lack of variation in hemicellulose makes it a poor candidate for study. Our data show sufficient variability to make it an item of interest.

Dry matter content appears to be normally distributed, whereas CP, ADF, NDF, and TDN (total digestible nutrients calculated by regression from ADF content) were distributed in a biphasic manner. These latter observations are consistent with the current pricing structure in California; premiums are paid for hays containing less then 30% ADF, and hays with a greater ADF content are discounted. Alfalfa that will not be suitable for lactating dairy cows is allowed to grow longer and tons/acre increased.

All samples collected will be analyzed using traditional wet chemistry, NIRS, and in vitro digestion techniques. Ten samples representing the range in diversity will be used in an in vivo study; weaned wether lambs will be fed at levels that approximate maintenance and ad libitum.

Kinetic analyses of in vitro data will use terms similar to those found in current computer models. All estimators will be calculated using least squares models, assuring that these estimators will be unbiased. Initial in vitro data are interesting; alfalfa samples with similar ADF concentrations have similar disappearances at 30 hours. Kinetics of degradation show differences, biological end-points are different, and these are not detectable using current methodologies.

Disappearance of material from the digestive tract is a function of the digestibility of that material and rate of passage. This can be represented mathematically as:

de = kd/(kd + kp),

where de = apparent degradation, kp = degradation rate, and kp = passage rate.

When kp = 0, as is found in an in vitro system, then de = kd. Given that de will be measured at kp = 0, maintenance and ad libitum, it will be simple to estimate kp for in vivo trial conditions. Passage rates may also be estimated from feed and fecal compositions in a dairy or feedlot setting. Seat-of-the-pants estimates may be made from feed intakes and production.

Estimates of metabolizable energy are made by subtracting losses in feces, urine, and methane from gross energy (feed). Given that nitrogen intakes will be high relative to animal requirements, estimates of ME will be low. It is expected that, for most models, NEl will be the property of feed used to express energy content. Given that the efficiency of ME use for milk synthesis is constant, nutritionists may use whatever kl is appropriate for the herd or animal being evaluated.