Research > Beef Cattle Research

The beef industry is the largest revenue generating commodity in Texas and contains all segments of the beef industry in the United States (i.e., seedstock, cow/calf, stocker/feedlot, packer, and consumers). The annual volume of cattle in the Texas beef industry is strongly supported by the number of cows in the cow/calf segment, which was 4.69 million beef cows in January of 2021. Because of forage growth and stocking density, a large portion of these cows reside in counties of subtropical climate. Cattle in this environment are challenged by hot ambient temperature and humidity and the many stressors that encompass this ecosystem. Because of these environmental challenges, many of the cattle in this region of Texas are Bos indicus-influenced, which means their breed composition involves some percentage of the breed of Brahman.

The primary tool of genetic selection of beef cattle is that of Expected Progeny Difference (EPD), which merges progeny records, pedigree, and genomic information to estimate breeding values. The global beef industries have been advancing the EPD processes for > 50 years; however, there is still great need to better understand the effects of the environment on cattle, how these environmental effects are accounted in the breeding value estimation processes, and most importantly, develop new traits to foster sustainability of beef cattle production systems.