Texas A&M University Researchers Receive More Than $14 Million from the USDA for Cattle Research

COLLEGE STATION, TX - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded two major grants totaling more than $14 million to investigators at Texas A&M University (TAMU) for conducting research on Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) and feed efficiency. These issues are of vital economic significance to the cattle industry and are priority areas for improving cattle health and production. Researchers at the TAMU College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) will lead the research on the $9.2 million BRD project and will be key participants in the University of Missouri led $5 million project aimed at improving feed efficiency in cattle.  

 Dr. James Womack, W.P. Luse Endowed & Distinguished Professor at the TAMU CVM, is the project director for the five-year grant to help reduce the incidence of BRD in beef and dairy cattle. BRD is the leading cause of disease death in beef and dairy cattle, resulting in annual losses of more than $690 million nationally.  

With this grant, researchers hope to accomplish the goal of reducing the incidence of BRD through the identification of genetic components that provide resistance to pathogens that cause the disease. For this, Womack and his team will work with commercial feedlots to analyze the DNA of more than 6,000 cattle. The investigators will then develop selective breeding programs based on their research, which will result in improved animal health management strategies and provide an understanding of the biological interactions between the host and the disease-causing pathogens.  

In addition to funding research, this grant will also help fund undergraduate, veterinary, and graduate education.  It will also facilitate the translation of research into practical application in feedlots and dairy farms through a dedicated extension component.  

"We have assembled an extremely strong team of research scientists, educators, and extension specialists to combat a serious and complex animal health issue with modern genomic technology," explains Womack. "We have known for years that individual cattle vary in their response to the pathogens responsible for Bovine Respiratory Disease and that much of this variation is genetic.  We now have the genomic tools to identify the basis for this variation at the DNA level and to utilize this information in selective breeding programs and animal health management. This project will be a model for the power of cooperation of major research and educational institutions and animal industries to make basic scientific discoveries, to train professionals in the application of these discoveries, and to translate new knowledge into economic gain along with improved animal health and welfare." 

"We are elated to have such innovative investigators who have afforded the opportunity for such a prominent grant to be housed at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences," notes Dr. Eleanor Green, Carl B. King Dean of Veterinary Medicine. "The powerful collaborations brought together through this grant will revolutionize the beef and dairy industries by saving many animals and markedly increasing production." 

"This national funding is a clear recognition of the outstanding animal genomics program at the CVM, which is comprised of a National Academy of Sciences member and several internationally renowned scientists," says Dr. Bhanu Chowdhary, Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Studies at the TAMU CVM. "We are extremely proud of this remarkable achievement by our faculty. Their contributions will bring about lasting improvement in two areas of economic importance to the cattle industry - health and production."

While TAMU is the lead institution on this project, the team includes scientists and educators from the University of Missouri, Washington State University, University of California-Davis, New Mexico State University, Colorado State University, the University of Wisconsin, and the USDA ARS unit in Beltsville, MD.  Participants from TAMU include Dr. Noah Cohen, Dr. Loren Skow, Dr. Lawrence Falconer, Dr. Christopher Seabury, Dr. Scott Dindot, and Dr. Alan Dabney. The genomics program at TAMU is further supported by AgriLife Research.  

The second grant worth $5 million is led by Dr. Jerry Taylor, Wurdack Chair in Animal Genomics at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, to study feed efficiency in cattle. With this grant, researchers will genotype 8,000 cattle and determine how genetic differences affect feed intake and efficiency. They will also study specific bacteria and microbes that reside in the cattle's stomach that aid in food digestion.  

"If we can identify and selectively breed the animals that have the best combination of genes for producing high-quality beef with the least amount of grain, their offspring could reduce environmental impacts and save producers millions of dollars," says Taylor. "Limiting the amount of feed used to produce beef could open farmland for other important crops, such as corn for ethanol, which could decrease dependency on fossil fuels and foreign oil." 

Dr. Christopher Seabury, assistant professor in animal genomics at the TAMU CVM, and a key participant from TAMU in the feed efficiency project said, "This project undoubtedly has the potential for major scientific advances enabling more efficient and cost-effective cattle production. I'm very excited about the opportunities it will offer to the beef industry." 

The 75 billion dollar beef and dairy industry has a significant impact on the national economy and in particular contributes largely to the rural economy. The two grants by USDA-NIFA will provide tools for improvement in cattle health and production and increase profitability in the cattle industry.

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