Research Project: Identifying and Mitigating Factors that Limit Beef Production Efficiency

Location: Livestock and Range Research Laboratory

Publications (Clicking on the reprint icon will take you to the publication reprint.)

Early identification of bovine pregnancy status and embryonic mortality - (Peer Reviewed Journal)

Out of Africa: Genetic characterization and diversity of Mashona cattle in the United States - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Ling, A.S., Hay, E.A., Lozada-Soto, E.A., Hayes, E., Browning, R., Blackburn, H.D. 2025. Out of Africa: Genetic characterization and diversity of Mashona cattle in the United States. Journal of Animal Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf045.

Multiple strategies association revealed functional candidate FASN gene for fatty acid composition in cattle - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Zhu, B., Wang, T., Niu, Q., Wang, Z., Hay, E.A., Xu, L., Chen, Y., Zhang, L., Gao, X., Gao, H., Cao, Y., Xhao, Y., Li, J., Xu, L. 2025. Multiple strategies association revealed functional candidate FASN gene for fatty acid composition in cattle. Communications Biology. 8. Article 208. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07604-z.

Genomic evaluation of recombination in small highly inbred beef cattle populations - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Hay, E.A., Ling, A.S. 2025. Genomic evaluation of recombination in small highly inbred beef cattle populations. Animal Research and One Health. https://doi.org/10.1002/aro2.103.

Machine learning for genomic prediction of growth traits in a composite beef cattle population - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Hay, E.A. 2024. Machine learning for genomic prediction of growth traits in a composite beef cattle population. Animals. 14(20). Article 3014. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14203014.

The effects of genotype-by-environment interactions on body condition score across three winter supplemental feed environments in a composite beef cattle breed in Montana - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Ling, A.S., Hay, E.A. 2024. The effects of genotype-by-environment interactions on body condition score across three winter supplemental feed environments in a composite beef cattle breed in Montana. Journal of Animal Science. 8. Article txae024. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txae024.

Alternative SNP weighting for multi-step and single-step genomic BLUP in the presence of causative variants - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Santana, B., Riser, M., Hay, E.A., Fragomeni, B. 2023. Alternative SNP weighting for multi-step and single-step genomic BLUP in the presence of causative variants. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics. 140(6):679-694. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbg.12817.

Multi-trait predictions using GBLUP and Bayesian mixture prior model in beef cattle - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Wang, Z., Ma, H., Li, H., Xu, L., Zhu, B., Hay, E.A., Xu, L., Li, J., Li, H. 2023. Multi-trait predictions using GBLUP and Bayesian mixture prior model in beef cattle. Animal Research and One Health. 1(1):17-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/aro2.13.

Influence of preovulatory estradiol treatment on the maintenance of pregnancy in beef cattle receiving in vivo produced embryos - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Ketchum, J.N., Perry, G.A., Quail, L.K., Epperson, K.M., Ogg, M.A., Zezeski, A.L., Rich, J.J., Zoca, S.M., Kline, A.C., Andrews, T.N., Ortega, M., Smith, M.F., Geary, T.W. 2023. Influence of preovulatory estradiol treatment on the maintenance of pregnancy in beef cattle receiving in vivo produced embryos. Animal Reproduction Science. 255. Article 107274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2023.107274.

Gene variants in BOLA-DMB, DECR1, FASN and SREBF1 associated with conceptus death on day 16 of pregnancy in Holstein cows - (Abstract Only)

Bull field fertility differences can be estimated with in vitro sperm capacitation and flow cytometry - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Zoca, S.M., Geary, T.W., Zezeski, A.L., Kerns, K.C., Dalton, J.C., Harstine, B.R., Utt, M.D., Cushman, R.A., Walker, J.A., Perry, G.A. 2023. Bull field fertility differences can be estimated with in vitro sperm capacitation and flow cytometry. Frontiers in Animal Science. 4. Article 1180975. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2023.1180975.

Effects of prenatal and postnatal melatonin supplementation on overall performance, male reproductive performance, and testicular hemodynamics in beef cattle - (Peer Reviewed Journal)
Reid, D.S., Geary, T.W., Zezeski, A.L., Waterman, R.C., Van Emon, M.L., Messman, R.D., Burnett, D.D., Lemley, C.O. 2023. Effects of prenatal and postnatal melatonin supplementation on overall performance, male reproductive performance, and testicular hemodynamics in beef cattle. Journal of Animal Science. 101. Article skad111. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skad111.

Composite breeds and genetic stability - (Other)