Farm Progress

 A Cattle Value Discovery System, or CVDS, developed in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University creates a complete model for nutrition and other key feedlot management issues.

September 30, 2014

1 Min Read
<p>Dr. Luis Tedeschi, Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Research nutritionist and associate professor in the department of animal science, has extensively studied decision support systems, specifically nutritional modeling.</p>

Nutritional modeling systems may help feedlot operators manage feed costs and could lower greenhouse gas emissions.  A Cattle Value Discovery System, or CVDS, developed in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University creates a complete model for nutrition and other key feedlot management issues.

Dr. Luis Tedeschi, Texas A&M AgriLife Research nutritionist and associate professor in the department of animal science, has studied decision support systems extensively, specifically nutritional modeling. While a doctoral student at Cornell University, Tedeschi worked with Dr. Danny Fox in developing the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System model for evaluating herd nutrition and nutrient excretion.

At Texas A&M, Tedeschi built upon that work in developing the CVDS, which helps feedyards sort animals into homogenous groups so that a higher percentage reach a desired level of grade on the day the pen is marketed.

 “Usually when feedlots receive animals, they group them in pens by weight,” he said. We changed the paradigm to grouping them according to CVDS-predicted days to reach the target U.S. Department of Agriculture quality grade, usually USDA low choice.”

Read more about nutritional modeling.

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