School is out but the work hasn’t stopped at Shealy Farm. Our interns are still working long hours to get everything ready for the next steps in our research. Indoor and outdoor lots are leveled, water tanks are cleaned and finally shades are in place. Cattle are now in the indoor and outdoor feedlots to be used for another research project.
Here is a few updates of what we have been up to. As of June 18th, the steers were removed from their research treatment areas. Tuesday June 19th, the interns did yet another calibration curve. Wednesday evening June 20th, the steers were pulled from feed so we could receive a “shrunk” weight for Thursday morning when we used ultrasound to look at rib eye size and marbling in the carcass. The cattle were then turned out to the dry lot to graze until July 29th, when they were weighed for a final time during this project.
The interns will continue working through the summer to analysis data and process forage samples. Updates will continue as will our work!