Author Bio

Born and raised in southern Illinois where my background in agriculture stems from working for my uncle and cousin who operated a diversified farm raising row crops, registered Hereford and Angus cattle and operating a custom hay business. My passion for beef cattle sparked the interest in pursuing a degree in Animal Science from the University of Missouri where I earned a B.S. in Animals Science and a Masters and PhD in ruminant nutrition. Following graduate school, I worked as a Nutritionist and Feed Salesman for Buchheit's in Perryville, MO. Since November of 2017 I've been in held my current position as Beef Systems Specialist for Purdue University. My Extension programming is related to beef cattle and forage production along with coordinating and managing the Indiana Beef Evaluation Program (IBEP). In 2025 along with my wife and 5 children we started a hair sheep flock in Lawrence County. Presentation: "Have To's" to Ruminant Livestock Nutrition: Accomplishing operational objectives for the livestock sector of your farm is multi-faceted. While nutrition is only one of the areas; proper or poor nutrition can positively or negatively affect other areas such as health and economics. We will discuss how matching livestock and level of production to the production environment influences the dependence on supplemental nutrition; how to interpret both a feed and forage analysis and then utilize this information to determine if requirements are being met in addition to utilizing report information to formulate a diet for ruminant livestock. At the conclusion will have a solid understanding of the essential information needed to properly feed ruminant livestock.