By Dr. Bruno Pedreira
Leading the UT Beef and Forage Center (UTBFC) this past year has been a rewarding experience, made possible with the great support of David McIntosh as our coordinator. Over the year, I’ve learned more about Tennessee’s forage and livestock industries, built strong connections with agents and farmers, and worked to improve the Center’s activities. Our goal remains the same: to support Tennessee’s beef and forage producers by providing research and sharing practical, science-based information.
In 2024, we reached some exciting milestones. We launched the Live.Stock Podcast and Companion, which you can find at utbeef.tennessee.edu/live-stock, giving producers access to helpful and engaging content. Our YouTube channel also grew, with 23.2K views, over 1,000 hours of watch time, and an increase in subscribers from 322 to 641. The UTBEEF.COM website received 171K views from 139K unique users. Social media allowed us to share timely information, including a post about armyworms in pastures that reached over 70,000 people and was shared nearly 300 times. We also continued sharing articles with Tennessee Cattle Business Magazine, which reaches over 7,000 producers across the state.
The Forage Laboratory analyzed more than 1,500 forage samples for producers and processed over 9,000 research samples using NIRS technology, saving nearly $400,000 compared to traditional testing methods.
Our forage variety trials made progress this year. New reports for Tall Fescue, Orchardgrass, and Annual Ryegrass are available at utbeef.tennessee.edu/forages-tennessee-variety-trials/. We also expanded warm-season trials to include Brachiaria and are planning trials for alfalfa, mixed pastures, and winter/early spring annuals.
We updated and developed several new Extension publications, including The Forage and Field Seeding Guide, Strategic Resource Management for Forage-Livestock Systems in Drought, Longhorned Tick and Bovine Theileriosis: Tennessee 2024 Update, Weed Control Strategies to Maximize Cool-Season Pasture Productivity, Buying Hay vs. Raising Hay for Beef Producers, among others.
We also welcomed Malerie Fancher as a new research assistant, along with several undergraduate students and visiting scholars who have brought fresh energy and ideas to the team.
As the year wraps up, I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together and excited to see what 2025 has in store for Tennessee’s beef and forage industries. Here’s to another great year ahead!
Source : tennessee.edu