‘OSU Extension Beef Cattle Manual’ now offered in Spanish
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Media Contact: Trisha Gedon | Communications Specialist | 405-744-3625 | trisha.gedon@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University Extension’s renowned beef cattle manual is responding to widespread use and popularity by offering its eighth edition in Spanish as well as English.
“The manual has become a go-to resource throughout North America in cattle-producing regions,” said Derrell Peel, OSU Extension livestock marketing specialist. “There are many linkages between the American and Mexican cattle markets that work to the benefit of both nations. Also, Spanish is the primary language of many other cattle-producing countries. The easier we can make it for people to use the manual, the better it is for everyone involved and the beef industry as a whole.”
The “OSU Extension Beef Cattle Manual” was first created in 1983 and has expanded with each edition to become a comprehensive resource used by livestock producers, Extension professionals, veterinarians, animal scientists, educators and others who work with beef cattle. The eighth edition updates information in the previous version that came out in 2015.
“Research continues to target all aspects of beef cattle management, everything from best production practices and animal well-being, to financial considerations and environmental stewardship,” Peel said. “We like to think of the manual as one-stop shopping, the single best resource available on the market.”
The original manual was a concise resource for information on beef cattle production and management — including nutrition, reproduction, animal health, genetics and the design of cattle-working facilities. More recent versions of the manual added chapters addressing economics, marketing and risk management, business planning and tax considerations, leasing arrangements, enterprise performance analysis, livestock insurance, forage production, grazing management, drought management, beef quality assurance, waste management and biosecurity.
The manual is very much a team effort created by OSU Agriculture faculty and staff. Expertise is drawn from the departments of agricultural economics, animal and food sciences, biosystems and agricultural engineering, entomology and plant pathology, natural resource ecology and management, plant and soil sciences and OSU Extension professionals across Oklahoma. Further expertise is drawn from the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine and cooperating peers at other universities and agencies.
“We’re quite a broad-based, multidisciplinary team, and that includes key cooperators who work closely with the Mexican cattle industry,” Peel said.
One of the key contributors is Enrique Sanchez Granillo, longtime director of the Chihuahua Cattlemen’s Association who earned his Ph.D. through the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. Chihuahua is the largest cattle-producing state in Mexico and a key international port of entry. The OSU alumnus has worked with his alma mater on numerous projects over the decades.
“There are many valuable technological innovations that are viable for adoption by the Mexican and Latin American livestock industries,” Sanchez said. “The main barrier has been language, especially for producers living in the rural sector.”
Sanchez lauded the “OSU Extension Beef Cattle Manual” as being a resource where all the information needed regarding useful beef cattle production and management is provided, even for livestock operators whose production systems may vary between temperate zones and tropical regions.
The more alike each country’s cattle management can be in terms of maintaining high quality and animal well-being, the better it is for all aspects of cattle production as a whole — from producer to eventual consumer, he said.
“Mexico, and especially the state of Chihuahua, is the leading exporter of calves to the United States,” Sanchez said. “The cattle breeds are the same as those consumed by the fattening and finishing industry for the production of meat that serves the preferential world markets.”
The “OSU Extension Beef Cattle Manual” is so comprehensive that it’s used as the textbook for the OSU Master Cattleman Program, a popular educational curriculum designed to enhance the profitability of beef operations and quality of life for beef cattle producers.
More information on buying a copy of the manual, specific chapter contents and additional research-based cattle resources and educational programs is available online through OSU Beef Extension.