Dr. Francis Fluharty

  • Dr. Francis Fluharty, Ph.D. As the movement to regional food production increases, smaller-scale beef processing plants are opening. The result is that many people who have not had a long history of finishing cattle on high-grain diets are starting to feed cattle. In this article, Dr. Fluharty provides an overview of acidosis in feedlot cattle…

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  • Darren Henry, Ph.D. The last couple of weeks have really tested my ability to work with a level head. Normally, when I am not out working with young stock, I try to stay cool as a cucumber. If you ask my wife, who has worked thousands of head with me over the years, she’ll tell…

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  • Dr. Darren Henry Lately, I have had time to do some thinking. I mean do some really serious, been sitting in a deer stand for 4 hours watching squirrels procreate kind of thinking. One of the topics that has been on my mind is loss. Throughout life, we all have lost something or someone we…

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  • Brent C. Credille, DVM, PhD, DACVIM – Evidence-based deworming programs have the potential to enhance cow herd productivity and profitability through improvements in mature cow reproductive performance and calf weaning weights. In this article, Dr. Credile will discuss several relevant aspects of deworming in beef herds.

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  • Recent Developments in Estrus Synchronization Protocols

    Pedro Fontes, Ph.D. Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist – The 2023 sire directories from genetic companies are now available to beef producers. In addition to including a wide variety of new sires, these directories also include updates in their estrus synchronization protocol sheets. These updates include new protocols that are now validated and endorsed by…

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  • The Toolbox

    Jason Duggin, Public Service Assistant, Department of Animal and Dairy Science – At our operations and even our homes, we tend to not always have every tool that we may need. It may be that we need a seed drill, but it’s more economical to lease one. From a management standpoint, there are tools that…

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  • In Defense of Animal Agriculture

    Dr. Francis Fluharty, Professor and Head – There are a lot of misconceptions about animal agriculture and its impact on environmental sustainability and food security. This really nice article by Dr. Francis Fluharty provides an overview of some of these misconceptions and highlights the importance of animal agriculture.

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  • Dylan Davis and Lawton Stewart As winter slowly approaches and producers are planning their winter supplementation, the question comes in each year; can I feed whole cottonseed to my bulls or will it make them infertile? This article will go over the impacts of cottonseed on bull fertility and describe how to safely take advantage…

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  • Using Genomic Test Results for Commercial Heifer Selection

    Francine Henry, Jason Duggin, Pedro Fontes, Lawton Stewart Over the years, commercial cattle producers have only had visual appearance and individual measurements known as phenotypes to use for heifer selection criteria. Now producers can evaluate the genetic differences known as Molecular Breeding Values (MBVs) between heifers well before their first potential breeding season. Having genomic…

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  • Estrus Synchronization Programs for Natural Service

    Pedro Fontes, Nathan Eason, Andy Carter, Jason Duggin – Estrus synchronization programs have the ability of inducing cyclicity in postpartum cows and can be used in combination with natural service breeding to increase the percentage of cows and heifers that become pregnant early in the season. This publication describe different estrus synchronization protocols that can…

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