July 7, 2021 Issue, Page 4 of 8

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4 July 7, 2021 Ag/Sports OSU Dairy Research Improves Production For Industry Dairy Month may have ended, but Okla- The OSU Ferguson Family Dairy Center pacted milk production and milk components, treated cows.” homa State University dairy research is still opened a robotic milking system in October such as milk fat and milk protein percentage. In upcoming dairy research, Spicer will be going strong. 2020. Foote said dietary pellets are used with Treated cows showed a 0.5% increase in The overall goal of OSU dairy research is robotic milking systems to coax dairy cows into teaming up with OSU’s College of Veterinary milk fat from 4% to 4.5%. to improve the efficiency of dairy production, the robotic system and to make them stand still “We calculated that this would be a $236 Medicine faculty to look at an electrolyte according to Department of Animal and Food while being milked. increase in gross income per cow per lacta- water additive to see how it might impact milk Sciences researchers Andrew Foote and Leon The research entailed feeding no pellets to tion or a $23,607 per 100 cow herd increase in production and feed intake. The study will be Spicer. one group of cows, while feeding two differ- gross income per year,” Spicer said. “The other “Our research is about providing new ent amounts per day to two other groups. The conducted in the heat of the summer to see important aspect we found was their feed ef- knowledge and tools needed to help dairy amount each cow ate per day was measured how cows are affected in a more stressful envi- farmers raise healthier cows that produce high- by a feed bunk. Foote said the key is to make ficiency increased. They were eating less food to quality milk more efficiently,” Spicer said. sure dairy cows are getting the right amount produce the same amount of milk as the non- ronment. Foote recently submitted the results of a of starch and protein, so researchers looked at 2019 study to the Journal of Translational whether feeding the pellets to the dairy cows Animal Science on improving a dairy cow’s transition into the lactation period. He stud- affected their dietary needs. Foote said the mixed diet intake of the cows Oklahoma State football lands ied the impacts of using a new hydroxy form receiving pellets declined significantly, which of vitamin D in a dairy cow’s diet. When cows begin lactating, they do not get enough cal- “told us that when we feed cows the pellets, we likely need to reformulate their mixed diet to Edmond Santa Fe’s Tabry cium, which can have dramatic effects on their make sure we are meeting their protein require- immune systems. Producers usually manipulate the minerals in a cow’s diet during the few ments and not giving them too much starch.” However, adding the pellets had no negative Shettron, flips brother weeks prior to calving so the animal is better effects on milk production. Researchers will fol- able to absorb calcium. The vitamin D supplement increased milk low up with altered mixed rations to determine the amount of protein and corn that needs Talyn from OU production in cows in the first month of pro- to be present in a cow’s mixed rations when duction. Researchers are looking into the physi- they also consume pellets. There will likely be Jacob Unruh, The Oklaho- day, while also being joined by game. ological mechanisms that led to the increased a follow up study to determine how increasing man his brother and OU receiver Tabry was ranked No. 24 in milk production. amounts of pellets affect the digestibility of a commit Talyn, the duo an- The Oklahoman’s initial Super Foote will also be presenting results of a cow’s diet. The Shettron brothers are nounced on Twitter. 30 rankings released in Febru- 2020 study regarding a dietary supplement for Spicer will be presenting summer 2020 re- staying together. Talyn, a four-star prospect ary. Talyn was ranked No. 3. dairy cows on a robotic milking system at the search at the ASAS conference in which he and Edmond Santa Fe tight end considered one of the top re- At 6 feet 3 and 180 pounds, American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) fellow researchers regularly fed Bacillus subtilis Tabry Shettron committed to ceivers in the upcoming senior Talyn caught 61 passes for conference this summer. bacteria to dairy cows to determine if it im- Oklahoma State on Wednes- class, committed to the Soon- 1,152 yards and 14 touch- ers in October. downs last season, earning At that point, the brothers first-team honors on The Okla- didn’t know if playing together homan’s All-State team. Local students attend SWOSU was a possibility. It became just that recently when the Cowboys offered a Talyn is the second receiv- er commitment of the 2022 class for the Cowboys, joining scholarship to Tabry, a 6-foot- Middle School Band Camp 4, 203-pound tight end who helped lead the Wolves to the Class 6A-I state championship Pawhuska’s Mason Gilkey. Ta- bry is the first tight end com- mitment. Southwestern Okla- Sayre eagles Travel to Thomas homa State University’s annual Middle School Band Camp attracted nearly 300 students. The camp for Coaches Corner students who have com- By Kerry Hookstra pleted grades five through seven was held June 27-30 With the lull in sports activities this column is being con- on the Weatherford cam- densed to cover five schools generally before getting back to pus. SWOSU’s annual Band more activity next week with the beginning of summer league Camp for 7th-12th grade for Fast-pitch Softball, cross country training camp activity, and students is coming up July volleyball getting into workouts. 11-16 with approximately 450 students planning to Overall, the reports from summer basketball camps have attend. Among those at- been positive as younger players have stepped in and stepped tending the Middle School up to fill the gaps from graduation. Granted, right now every Band Camp from Elk City team is undefeated and optimism abounds. The quality of bas- were (front from left): ketball in our area is usually excellent and the 2021-22 season Jayli Sharp, Colin Jones appears to be cut from the same cloth. and Miranda Brasuell. Baseball has some bright spots. While Erick is a work in (Row 2 from left): Kaidynce progress for fall ball and Sayre had a limited summer schedule, Cordell, Adilinn Frey and Canute, Elk City, and Merritt had good summer league perfor- Kaiden McCamon. (Row mances. Canute finished 7-1 with Merritt having a better than 3 from left): Jalyn Mead- .500 mark. The story of the summer came from the Big Elks as ows, Katherine Ivester, the varsity went 16-0 and the JV was 11-1-1 under new Head Logan Jones and John Coach Jay McClure. The varsity squad finished the summer with Hatch. (Back from left): Eli run rule wins over El Reno, Perryton, TX, and Weatherford. Shelton, Madeline Laufer, A mix of solid hitting, stingy defense, and strong young arms Ashlynn Brownfield and on the mound has Elk City Baseball excited to get into spring Graciela Lopez. competition. Have a great summer shot you want to share? Send us a description along with the photo to [email protected] to be featured in an upcoming edition!