Grazingland Animal Nutrition Laboratory

08/19/2025

🎥 Welcome to Ranchworthy – Where land, legacy, and leadership come together. At Ranchworthy, we bring you inside the gates of America’s most resilient ranches and the people who run them. From grazing strategies and land stewardship to generational wisdom and emerging ag technologies—this i...

08/18/2025

Our team recently represented the Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab at the 52nd Annual Sheep & Goat Field Day in San Angelo, TX, hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension. This year’s event was dedicated to Kerrville flood victims and brought together researchers, extension specialists, and industry professionals from across the region.🐏🐐

Our director Doug Tolleson, Associate Professor and Chief Scientist at Sonora Station, presented “Sonora Station Research Update,” sharing the latest findings from his many ongoing research initiatives.

During the research poster session, our talented team of recent graduates Dr. Camille Carey, Kimberly Tanguma, and Jessica Dudak, along with graduate student Timothy Lyons, presented their research findings to attendees. The interactive poster session provided an excellent platform for knowledge exchange and networking within the sheep and goat community. 🌾🔬

The sheep and goat field day was a great opportunity to share our research with fellow scientists and industry professionals. Proud of our team’s contributions to advancing knowledge in grazingland animal nutrition! 🤠

07/31/2025

July Sampling Complete!✅🐮🌾

Another successful data collection down in South Texas for our South Texas Nutritional Monitoring Project! The excitement never gets old! 🌾🙌

Swipe to see our South Texas adventure and some unforgettable moments! 🐮

Always fun and games until we can’t find our nutritionist in the brush! The joys of working in thriving ecosystems! 🔍

07/28/2025

🦣 🦬Research Collaboration: SDSU West River Agricultural Research and Extension Center

🔬Dr. Tolleson, Director of the Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab, recently traveled to South Dakota to collaborate with Dr. Jeff Martin and his team at the South Dakota State University West River Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Rapid City.

🦬Dr. Martin serves as the Bison Extension Specialist with the Center of Excellence for Bison Studies (SDState - Center of Excellence for Bison Studies). His research focuses on modern bison ecology and management, while utilizing historic and fossil samples to better understand current conditions.

🧪 The collaboration involves multiple projects applying near infrared spectroscopy to non-invasively and non-destructively analyze f***l samples, determining diet quality for both living and extinct grazers.

During the South Dakota visit, Dr. Tolleson examined bison herds, toured the SDSU Cottonwood Field Station with Dr. Jameson Brennan, and collected NIR spectra on fossil f***l samples from species including ground sloths, bison, and mammoths at the Hot Springs Mammoth Site.

07/28/2025

🔍 Chute-side CSI: Determining Brand Alteration via Portable Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Dr. Tolleson, Director of the Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab, was an invited speaker at the International Livestock Identification Association annual meeting in Gering, Nebraska, July 21-23. 🐄
The presentation drew approximately 100 attendees from the US, Canada, and Australia 🌎, including livestock law enforcement officers, brand inspectors, veterinarians and animal health professionals, ranchers and producers, state legislators, and the Director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture.

🔑 With record high cattle prices, theft is on the rise. Branding remains the most reliable form of proof of ownership for livestock, and branded animals are much more likely to be recovered if stolen.

🔬The near infrared spectroscopy technique is a work in progress . Results indicate that accurately pinpointing a date of brand application is not currently achievable, but determining that a given brand has been altered is feasible.

The next step involves evaluating the technique in a real-world cattle theft case. Dr. Tolleson is working with ILIA to accomplish this objective.

07/07/2025

📣Calling all customers, partners, and friends.

The Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab will be collecting donations to help our Central Texas neighbors recover from the recent devastating flooding event that has impacted the Hill Country communities. The catastrophic floods have caused tremendous loss of life and property damage, leaving families and volunteers in urgent need of basic supplies and support.

Every donation will make a meaningful difference in helping our neighbors rebuild after this tragedy. Together, we can show the strength of our Texas community spirit during this difficult time.

For questions or more information, please contact the GanLab (254) 774-6134 [email protected]

07/01/2025

June Sampling COMPLETE! 🐮🌾

We’re thrilled to have wrapped up our first month of sampling for the Grazingland Nutritional Monitoring Study! Huge thanks to all the incredible South Texas ranchers who joined us for this research using f***l near infrared spectroscopy (FNIRS).

This is just the beginning! Over the next 5 months, we’ll be traveling across South Texas, working hand-in-hand with ranchers to advance cattle nutrition monitoring.

Stay tuned as we continue our journey across South Texas! 🌾🐮 Real-time data, expert insights, and FREE participation 🤝 Learning from the land, learning from the cows, learning from each other

06/05/2025

🐄 Calling all South Texas ranchers! Join our FREE 6-month Grazingland Nutritional Monitoring Study and get monthly cattle nutrition analysis, expert recommendations, and hands-on training. Learn from the land, learn from your cows, learn from each other.

🔬 Get real-time data and expert insights to improve your cattle performance - no cost to participate!

Ready to join? Contact us: 📞 254-774-6134 📧 [email protected] 📧 [email protected]
📧 [email protected]

06/05/2025

AgriLife Extension will host a webinar on New World screwworm on June 9 to provide more information to agricultural producers and the public.

05/06/2025

🐂MAY IS NATIONAL BEEF MONTH! 🐂

At the Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab, we are celebrating the hard-working cattle producers who provide quality beef for our tables while practicing sustainable grazing management!
How we support beef producers everyday:

💩 Our lab analyzes f***l samples from grazing animals using Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to assist producers in monitoring their herds nutrition.

🖥️NUTBAL Software Application- After NIRS analysis, our NUTBAL system combines data on animal profiles, environmental conditions, pasture quality, and supplementation to generate performance reports. These reports estimate forage intake and nutritional requirements, helping determine if dietary needs are being met.

💵Economic Feed Management- The NIRS/Nutbal system helps producers identify “when, what, and how much to feed” to maximize cost-effectiveness based on their production goals.

🌾Grazing Management Guidance- Our services help producers track pasture forage quality to adjust grazing strategies and address potential forage limitations.

This National Beef Month, we are proud to provide scientific analysis that helps producers create high-quality beef while maintaining sustainable grazing practices!

Contact us and submit your samples to: Grazingland Animal Nutrition Lab

1052 Agronomy Rd. TAMU 2138, College Station, TX 77843-2138
Phone: (254) 774-6134

Email: [email protected]

04/24/2025

At the GAN Lab, manure isn't a waste — it's important data that helps us understand grazing animal nutrition and support better management decisions in rangeland and pasture systems!

Great insights from the Beef Cattle Research Council on the value of manure in nutrient management!

💩 Cattle manure is a valuable source of organic matter as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, magnesium, calcium and other nutrients.

🌱 Manure is spread naturally by grazing animals and can also be stored through stockpiling, composting or other means, and spread or applied to land later, according to regional regulations.

For all manure matters, check out our Manure & Nutrient Management web page:
https://www.beefresearch.ca/topics/manure-nutrient-management/

04/24/2025

Congratulations to NRCS on 90 years of impact! 🎉 We’re honored to contribute to their mission of supporting producers through science-based conservation and rangeland stewardship!

This week we celebrate our 90th anniversary. 🎊 Through the voluntary conservation actions of farmers, ranchers, and landowners across the country, and in partnership with soil and water conservation districts and a myriad of other partners working in every state and territory, together we've made tremendous progress in the conservation of natural resources on private lands throughout the United States. Join us on a trip down memory lane as we reflect on our founding, where we’ve been, and where we’re going: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/our-agency/news/after-setting-roots-90-years-ago-nrcs-continues-to-grow-its-conservation-legacy?utm_campaign=042125nrcs90anniversaryblog&utm_source=USDA+Natural+Resources+Conservation+Service&utm_medium=social&utm_content=1745435708