Dr. Matt Hersom
Extension Beef Cattle Specialist
Phone: (352) 392-2390
E-mail: hersom@animal.ufl.edu
Research and Education Focus
- Energy and Protein Supplementation
- By-Product Utilization
- Heifer Development
- Beef Quality Assurance / Biosecurity
Brief Overview of Research and Extension Program
The general research focus is to investigate optimum feeding strategies for forage fed beef cattle. The areas of investigation include feedstuff evaluation, by-product utilization, supplement characteristics, and feeding frequency. Cooperative work examines the interaction of nutrition and reproduction. Specific areas include: 1) effect of supplementation strategies on cow reproductive performance, 2) heifer development through the use of different feedstuffs and feeding management. An additional area of cooperative work is examining the effect of nutrition and management during the background phase on muscle and meat characteristics. Extension efforts include beef cattle nutrition, cow-calf production, and forage utilization. Emphasis areas include supplementation, grazing, and nutrition-reproduction interaction. I chair the Florida Beef Cattle Short Course and assist with Florida Beef Quality Assurance program. Livestock enterprise biosecurity is an emerging extension area.
