McGregor Research Center Field Day set for May 1

Apr 09, 2024

By Rob Williams

Texas A&M AgriLife Research will host the McGregor Research Center Field Day on May 1 with topics to cover nutrition, rebuilding the cow herd and utilizing technology in production practices.

The field day will be from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the center, located at 773 Ag Farm Road. There is no cost to register, but pre-registration for meal count is requested by contacting Priscilla Dowell at 254-840-2878 or priscilla.dowell@ag.tamu.edu.

Lunch will be sponsored by the McGregor General Store.

Field day includes cattle talks, tour stops

The field day will feature presentations from cattle experts across Texas A&M AgriLife, including faculty from AgriLife Research, the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

In addition to the presentations, there will be three research tour stops where participants can learn about topics such as using smart technology on grazing replacement heifers, technology to age branding scars and developing replacement heifers in confined feeding systems.

Program agenda

Speakers and topics will include:

McGregor Center update: Research, infrastructure, cow herd – Ryon Walker, Ph.D., AgriLife Research operations manager, McGregor Research Center.
Rebuilding the cow herd: Making high leverage decisions – Clay Mathis, Ph.D., professor and department head, Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station.
Fueling success: Optimizing nutrition in the era of record cattle prices – Jon DeClerck, Ph.D., technical cattle consultant, Purina Animal Nutrition, Bryan-College Station.
Administrative updates – G. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., AgriLife Research director, Bryan-College Station; Mathis; Andy Herring, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Animal Science and interim associate department head for AgriLife Extension programs, Bryan-College Station.
Accuracy vs. estimation: Which is more expensive in your cow herd – Karl Harborth, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension livestock specialist and professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, Bryan-College Station.

The research tour stop speakers will include:

Using technology to detect age of branding scars – Doug Tolleson, Ph.D., AgriLife Research rangeland specialist and associate professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Sonora.
Using smart technology with replacement heifers grazing cool-season annuals – Bill Pinchak, Ph.D., AgriLife Research animal nutritionist and professor in the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Vernon; Gordon Carstens, Ph.D., AgriLife Research animal nutritionist and professor in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station, and Keara O’Reilly, Ph.D., postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station.
Developing replacement heifers in confined feeding systems – Reinaldo Cooke, Ph.D., Burkhart Endowed Professor for Beef Cattle Research, Department of Animal Science, Bryan-College Station.

Source : tamu.edu

Video: Next Mile Ep 1: Navigating Disease Prevention

The Next Mile, host Dr. Meredith Petersen, Director of Swine Health at the National Pork Board, sits down with Dr. Cara Haden, Director of Animal Welfare and Biosecurity at Pipestone, to unpack the National Swine Health Strategy and what it means for producers across the country.

Meredith walks through how the strategy came together: a producer-led effort launched in March 2025 in response to input gathered at the National Pork Industry Forum, built around two core goals, keeping foreign and emerging diseases out of the U.S. herd and reducing the impact of domestic diseases already here, including long-term elimination targets for PRRSV and PEDV.

Cara then brings the conversation down to the farm level, sharing how Pipestone scores biosecurity across seven key areas: air, feed, water, people, supplies, trucks and pigs, plus everything within the farm perimeter. She and Meredith dig into why farm leadership and daily culture, not just protocols on paper, ultimately determine whether biosecurity efforts stick.

Whether you're a producer, veterinarian, or anyone invested in herd health, this episode offers a grounded look at where the industry is headed and what everyday habits make the biggest difference.