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.
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 most recent previous version that came out in 2015.
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 doctorate degree 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.”
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.
