Dr. Housewright's talk is titled "Where have all the cowboys gone? Challenges in Animal Agriculture for a New Century"

Abstract: A fitting question, considering the urbanization of our culture and the loss of attachment to agriculture. Instead of hearing in conversation, "I have some cows!" or "My Dad used to have some old cows," now we overhear "...seems like my grandfather used to have a farm of some kind." This has not only impacted the culture and knowledge outside, but also inside agriculture, especially animal agriculture. Animal agriculture is on the threshold of some exciting innovations and applications. One of the latest developments is "EID" or electronic identification of cattle. This technology will ultimately allow for tracing of cattle from the initial producer through the industry and directly to the consumer. The most widely used argument against the use of this technology is cost. If they take the time to buy the tags, put them in the cattle and keep the records, will they be compensated for this additional expense? More questions than answers exist with this new program, but due to pressure the beef industry will eventually be forced to adopt this technology.

Finally, "Where have all the cowboys gone?" will have a direct impact on the direction of future research generated by the Department of Agricultural Sciences. A new segment in the beef industry has emerged over the last few years and has become a dominant fixture on the landscape in East Texas. The backgrounding or preconditioning producer is a growing segment of the industry that takes weaned calves and prepares these calves for the feedyards. With the loss of practical "cowboys" who can spot sick cattle and treat fresh calves the industry is becoming increasingly dependent on making sure calves are healthy when they arrive at the feedyards. This has opened the floodgates for new research in the area of nutrition and manipulating immune response. Feed consumed by stressed calves is lower than unstressed calves and this low intake coupled with low nutrient intake could compromise immune function (Cole, 1996) and potentially increased susceptibility to infection. Cole (1993) noted that the trace mineral requirements for newly weaned stressed calves does not seem to be greater than unstressed calves, however, due to their lowered intake, additional supplementation may be warranted. Several trace minerals have been identified as potential stimulators of immune response, most notably Zn, Cu, Cr and Se. It was determined by Corah et al. (1996) that a great number of cattle coming off grazing are in fact Zn deficient. In a survey of 18 states it was found by Corah et al. (1996) that only 2.5% of cattle received adequate Zn. It has been a recent development to increase the bioavailability of these trace minerals in an attempt to enhance immune response in fresh cattle. These areas will become the focal point of continued research in the Department of Agriculture.