11-13 FB Beef Feed

 Humans are not the only species that have to watch what they eat. It is important for cattle producers as well. I’m David Sparks for the Ag information network and making sure cattle use their feed efficiently is key to affordable beef, dairy and sustainable businesses, says University of Idaho animal scientist Rod Hill, whose book on that topic was published in September.

Hill, a livestock physiologist in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, has spent much of his career conducting feed efficiency studies on cattle. His studies range from monitoring the animal as it gains weight all the way to the molecular realm to understand how cattle grow and why there is so much animal-to-animal variation in feed efficiency. He enlisted 33 experts at the University of Idaho and worldwide to cover the spectrum on the science of feed efficiency. Here’s Dr. Hill: “The new book, “Feed Efficiency in the Beef Industry,”  and it came about from a group that I put together a number of years ago in what is called a USDA Regional Committee. The book tries to offer valuable information to audiences ranging from cattle producers to animal scientists.”