UC announces grants for beef, range research

Eight University of California research and outreach projects to address beef cattle and rangeland management issues have been funded through the Russell L. Rustici Rangeland and Cattle Research Endowment. UC said the projects address water quality, reproduction, animal welfare, greenhouse gases, weed control and extending knowledge.

"The goal of this program is to promote collaboration and strengthen the continuum between range cattle producers, Cooperative Extension specialists and other research faculty, and county-based Cooperative Extension advisors," said DeeDee Kitterman, executive director of research and outreach for the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Funding has been made available for the research and outreach by endowment earnings from a gift to the university from the estate of Russell Rustici, a Lake County cattle rancher who passed away in 2008.

This is the first year grant awards are being conferred to UC researchers through an annual, competitive process. Grants for this year's projects totaled more than $339,400. Projects and lead researchers include:

• Statewide coordination of scientific research information regarding livestock grazing and microbial water quality (Edward R. Atwill, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine);
• Effects of road transport on physiological stress and pathogen shedding in adult beef cows (Xunde Li, Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, UC Davis);
• Development and testing of a recombinant heat shock protein vaccine for epizootic bovine abortion, commonly known as "foothill abortion" (Jeffrey Stott, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine);
• A new, producer-friendly tool to diagnose bovine respiratory disease virus infections (Beate Crossley, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, UC Davis);
• Coordinated electronic extension of research-based information to cattle ranchers (Glenn Nader, UC Cooperative Extension, Yuba/Sutter and Butte counties);
• Testing of new management tools for controlling the rangeland weed medusahead in California (Josh Davy, UC Cooperative Extension, Tehama, Glenn and Colusa counties);
• Evaluation and validation of a PCR assay to detect the trichomoniasis pathogen in modified media (Kristin Clothier, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, UC Davis);
• Beef cattle welfare: assessment of pain relief and healing after hot-iron branding and castration (Cassandra Tucker, UC Davis Department of Animal Science).