Joint New Mexico-Texas project developing more efficient grazing cattle
A set of calves grazing winter pasture at the New Mexico State University Clayton Livestock Research Center near Clayton, New Mexico, may look typical of Texas High Plains cattle, but this group is special – they are Raramuri Criollo crossbred calves.
And, the improved pasture they are grazing is planted with a Texas A&M AgriLife Research wheat-breeding program variety in an effort to closely mirror the beef production systems of the Texas High Plains.
The Criollo-cross calves project is a part of an almost $9 million U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, said Brent Auvermann, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center-Amarillo director.