Katy Lippolis may not be an Iowa native, but the new Iowa State University Extension beef cow-calf specialist says her roots in agriculture began here and she truly believes she was always meant to end up in Iowa.

“My grandmother was raised in Varina, and my dad used to spend summers on his aunt and uncle’s farm in Iowa,” she says. “I heard stories about crops and animal agriculture, and was instilled with a deep respect for farmers from an early age. Even though my family was not in a place to have land, my dad wanted me to experience livestock in some way.”

That experience started for Lippolis in high school in Colorado with a business of training difficult horses. She learned the importance of teaching the owners to maintain that training, which created her passion for teaching and education.

Interest in animal health, nutrition
At Colorado State University, she earned a double major in equine science and animal science, and built leadership skills through a variety of work and club opportunities. She also honed her enthusiasm for animal health and nutrition, and realized she had a natural affinity for working cattle, even though she had never raised cattle. This led to a master’s program in beef systems management at CSU, where she became more involved in information and research on beef cattle, including serving as coordinator of the Colorado Beef Quality Assurance program.

ROOTS: New ISU beef cattle specialist Katy Lippolis feels at home in Iowa where her roots in agriculture began.

“My research focused on low-stress weaning with nose flaps, and their effects on performance, vaccine efficacy and carcass quality,” she says. “This research and the educational aspects of the BQA program strongly influenced my desire to remain involved with producer education, and help develop management strategies to improve production, total industry efficiency and profitability for beef producers.”

Working to improve profitability
This desire led her next to Oregon State University for a doctoral program, which solidified her interest in improving calf and feeder cattle performance through management and nutrition, specifically during weaning.

“My research highlighted the importance of the cow-calf sector in cattle performance and health in the feedlot, which guided my goals for developing realistic strategies for producers and educating producers in these strategies,” Lippolis says. “The Iowa State Extension cow-calf position is the perfect role for me to do this.”

She came on board at ISU in midsummer and is collaborating on several research opportunities, working with producers and assisting with Iowa Beef Center workshops. The teaching portion of her position includes the animal science department’s cow-calf management course. Extension responsibilities involve developing online tools and resources, and serving Iowa’s cow-calf industry.

“My goal is to add to the available information and education for cow-calf producers across Iowa. In the future, I hope to increase the availability and concentration of our workshops and programs through avenues such as live videos, webinars, research reports, fact sheets and articles,” she says. “It’s truly an honor to be serving Iowa cattle producers. I’m extremely excited to help continue growing Iowa’s leading edge in beef production.”

Source: Iowa State University