Texas A&M Initiative Enhances Beef Cattle Production Efficiency

Texas A&M AgriLife is collaborating with beef producers in Texas to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of cow-calf and stocker operations. The initiative, known as the Texas Beef Cattle Efficiency Initiative, aims to equip ranchers with proven strategies to reduce costs, improve herd quality, and protect grazing resources.

Leading the educational efforts are Jason Smith, Ph.D., a beef cattle specialist and associate professor at the Texas A&M Department of Animal Science in Amarillo, along with Jeff Goodwin, Ph.D., director of the Texas A&M Center for Grazinglands and Ranch Management in Bryan-College Station.

The initiative focuses on helping ranchers identify and implement management practices that yield measurable efficiency gains. According to Smith, “By working directly with individual cow-calf and stocker operations, we can help ranchers gain the knowledge, tools and support necessary to improve production efficiency in areas that they identify as valuable.”

Through participation, ranchers can expect not only increased revenue and decreased input costs but also strategies that foster the long-term sustainability of their operations. Goodwin emphasized the program’s role in enhancing producer knowledge and confidence, stating, “Through collaborative projects like this, we can contribute to a stronger, more resilient Texas beef supply chain.”

The project is backed by funding from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, McDonald’s Corporation, and Golden State Foods. It offers customized programming and educational resources tailored to meet the unique goals of Texas beef cattle producers. While many of the practices are recognized as “best practices,” adoption can be inconsistent due to various barriers, including costs and uncertainties.

Smith noted the diversity in grazing operations, saying, “Because of the variety that exists in grazing beef operations, most things are not one size fits all. Producers may adopt certain practices, but not others due to simple barriers that need to be overcome.” The initiative seeks to bridge these gaps, enabling producers to discover additional practices that could enhance their operations.

Apart from economic advantages, participants can also anticipate environmental benefits, such as reduced nutrient losses and improved grazing land health.

A key component of the initiative involves comprehensive management strategies encompassing nutrition, grazing management, genetic selection, health, reproduction, and handling. Participants will gain access to record-keeping tools to help inform management decisions at both the individual animal and herd levels.

“Good records that can be objectively evaluated, then used to make decisions, can put managers in the driver’s seat of herd productivity,” Smith explained.

One specific focus is on optimizing cow size. Industry trends show that mature cow weights have been increasing, which can lead to higher forage and supplemental feed requirements without a proportional increase in calf weight. Participants will learn how to select sires and replacement heifers to optimize cow size.

“For instance, if an operation can moderate cow weight and maintain productivity, that is expected to translate to input cost savings,” Smith said. “Reducing cow forage intake by 17% means the operation could potentially run 12 cows on the same forage resources previously required to support 10.” He added that moderating mature cow size from 1,600 pounds to about 1,300 pounds could yield significant cost savings.

Another focus of the project is developing grazing management strategies that enhance both production efficiency and land health. Goodwin stated, “Soil health is a central indicator of grazing land health. Defining efficient grazing strategies that positively influence soil, plant communities, and livestock performance is imperative to increasing the resilience of beef cattle operations.”

Selected participants will have the chance to engage in soil health research on their ranches, identifying grazing efficiencies and strategies with tangible benefits.

The project has two primary goals: to benchmark current practices within operations and to monitor changes over time. By collaborating with producers and documenting outcomes, the team aims to help them recognize the impact of their choices and identify barriers to adoption that can be addressed through education and support.

“The best management practices we emphasize are backed by science, field-proven and expected to benefit the operation in real, measurable ways,” Smith said. “Our role is to help producers adopt those practices that promote production efficiency in ways that strengthen their bottom line and support their ability to keep doing what they’re great at, for a long time to come.”

Producers interested in learning more about the Texas Beef Cattle Efficiency Initiative can request additional information by emailing [email protected].