“Beef Innovation” is new name of Nebraska Integrated Beef Systems Hub

By Cara Pesek

An interdisciplinary effort to bring together University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty, staff and students working to improve the efficiency, resilience and profitability of beef production has a new name.

Beef Innovation, a hub for beef excellence, brings together researchers, instructors and extension professionals with expertise in genetics, ruminant nutrition, grassland systems, climate, precision livestock management, ag economics, engineering, and other fields of study related to beef production to holistically advance beef systems.

The program, formerly known as the Nebraska Integrated Beef Systems – or NIBS – hub, was formed in 2015.

“Beef innovation is what we’ve been about from the very beginning,” said Galen Erickson, one of the leaders of the program. “We wanted a straight-forward name, and Beef Innovation certainly fits. We are going to focus on the biggest challenges facing beef production and natural resources and bring together the people best equipped to solve them.”

Since the hub’s inception, Beef Innovation-affiliated faculty have launched a number of interdisciplinary projects, including adaptive management research taking place at Barta Brothers Ranch; the expansion of the USDA-UNL collaboration as part of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network; the expansion of the Feedlot Innovation Center at the Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center; and the establishment of the Western Ranchland Livestock Center, which brings together researchers from Nebraska, Montana and Oregon to innovate and expand precision technologies for the ranch. In Nebraska, this research is taking place primarily at Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory near Whitman. Many other new and exciting projects are forthcoming.

As part of this new approach, Beef Innovation will maintain its annual meeting series and will enhance communication to showcase all the exciting outcomes of these collaborations and research projects.