1. II. Buildings and structures for containment
to suit different climatic conditions
Dan Loy
Professor of Animal Science
Director, Iowa Beef Center
Iowa State University

2. WIND Control

5. Shelter

6. MUD Management

9. Open lot and mound construction

14. Mud Management-Concrete

15. Concrete open lot

16. Heat Stress Solutions
#1 - Shade, #2 - Sprinklers

17. Heat Stress

18. July 2011

19. 1999 Heat Wave
• Death loss in NE 5,000 hd
• Death loss in SW Iowa 100 hd
• Why the difference?
• Emergency plan in place
– Memory of 1995
• Wind speed on July 29, 1999
• Acclimation of cattle week of July 25, 1999

20. July 11 & 12, 1995
• High Temperatures
• High Humidity
• No Wind
• Deadly Combination

21. July 11 & 12, 1995
13 West Central Iowa counties
• Market 323,300 HD/year
• Estimates 50% on feed = 161,650 HD
• 3750 HD dead
• 2.32% death loss
• $ 2.8 M cattle losses
• $28.0 M production losses

22. Effective Ambient Temperature
• Air temperature
• Solar radiation
• Air movement
• Contact surfaces
• Precipitation

23. Weather Conditions July 11 & 12
• High 40 C
• 50% Relative Humidity
• Calm winds after 3 to 5 P.M.
• No cloud cover
• Predicted high approximately 32 C

24. 1995 Heat Stress Survey Results
• 36 producers responded
• 81 lots of cattle
• 9830 head on feed
– 7445 steers
– 2385 heifers
• Average weight 485 kg
• Death loss average 2.82% per lot

25. 1995 Heat Stress Survey Results
Item
No. of lots
No. of cattle
No. of heifers
Lot area
Shade area
Death loss
% of lots with no
death loss
Shade
35
3940
329
349
24 sq. ft.
.19%
No Shade
46
5890
2056
568
0 sq. ft.
4.81%
86%
19%

26. Confinement Building with Solid
Floor
Around 30.5 m

27. Deep bedded vs open lots (closeout comparison)
• 997 pens fed 2007-2009. LOL/Purina
closeouts.
Open Lots
Deep Bedded
DMI, kg
10.2
10.2
ADG, kg
1.31
1.37
F/G
7.94
7.46
Pastoor et. al. (2012).
4.5% improvement in ADG, 6.3% improvement in FE to
bedded housing

32. Confinement Building with Solid Floor

33. Confinement Building with Solid Floor
12.2-15.2 m

34. Confinement Building with Solid Floor

35. ISU Armstrong Research Farm
Lewis, Iowa

36. Completed building

37. Three year summary of performance
Item
Hoop
Feedlot
SEM
PValue
Pens
Head
Days on feed
Initial weight, kg
Final weight, lb.
ADG, lb.
DMI, lb
Feed/gain (DM)
Mud score2
18
712
103
410
595
1.80
12.5
6.9
1.9
18
716
103
410
612
1.86
12.5
6.7
2.2
.5
11
11
.3
.1
.1
.1
0.62
0.94
0.32
0.19
0.98
0.17
0.02
Honeyman et. al. (2010)

38. Three year summary of carcass
data
Item
Hot carcass wt., kg
Dressing %
Fat thickness, cm
KPH fat, %
Ribeye area, sq. in.
Marbling score2
% Choice and up
% YG 1 and 2
Hoop
369
62.0
1.09
2.4
85.2
1031
75.4
63.4
Honeyman et. al. (2010)
Feedlot
371
60.6
1.09
2.4
84.5
1027
74.3
62.9
SEM
6
P-Value
.59
.01
.01
.1
.5
2.7
2.7
.9+2
.99
.38
.61
.78
.94

39. Example facilities

40. Example facilities

41. Example Facilities
Story County

42. South Dakota State Univ.

43. SDSU Opportunities Farm
Open
Partial
Monoslope
DMI (kg)
11.1
11.1
11.0
ADG (kg)*
1.61
1.67
1.65
F/G*
6.90
6.67
6.71
Holland, et. al. (2011). 6,615 cattle fed 2004-2011.
Shelter provided 1.8% increase in ADG and 2.8% improvement in F/G (year
round). Most performance responses were in cattle closed out in the 1st and 2nd
quarters.

44. Complete Confinement Building
with Slatted Floor

51. Mats for Slats?
(progress report—3reps)
Rubber
mats
Concrete P>F
slats
DMI, lb.
9.45
9.18
.54
ADG, lb.
1.40
1.30
.41
F/G
6.76
7.04
.42
Euken et. al. 2013 (in press)

52. University of Wisconsin
• Preference study
Plaster et al (2011)

53. Thank You !