The work of PhD candidate Kirsten Nickles is dirty business as she conducts research to help beef producers across the Midwest.
Many cattle producers have noticed a change in the climate in recent years. Springs are wetter, summers are drier, and winters are warmer. All of these factors have an impact on the cattle industry, and Nickles wants to learn more in order to better give back to the industry that she has spent most of her life in.
Nickles is a graduate research associate in The Ohio State University Department of Animal Sciences and is advised by Dr. Anthony Parker. Parker is the principal investigator for this project. The two previously worked together for Nickels’ master’s degree before reteaming for this research.
Mud is the topic in question. How are wetter and muddier springs affecting the metabolism of beef cattle? Nickles and Parker have been researching just that. In an interview, Nickles explained how, “in the last couple of years we have been experiencing a lot of difficulties with our spring calving cow herds in terms of abnormal wetness. What we are experiencing is an increase in winter and spring temperatures as well as precipitation.” Though Nickles is researching in Ohio, she feels that this research is relevant to the entire Midwest. Through her research, she hopes to determine how these climate changes are impacting the maintenance requirements of cattle and see if there are effects downstream on calves.
Nickles has been actively involved in her family’s beef cattle and grain farm near Wooster, Ohio for her entire life. She also showed cattle during her younger years in 4-H. When deciding what topic to research, beef cattle was an easy choice. “I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something related to agriculture and I really loved beef cattle, so I think this was the perfect track for that,” Nickles said.
Her passion for beef cattle and beef production is evident from the way Nickles conducts herself and how others describe her character. Parker describes Nickles as “very efficient, intelligent, and wonderful to work with. She is also very good with people and animals, which makes things easy and an enjoyable project overall.”
The issues facing producers today are near and dear to Nickles’ heart, and she spoke passionately about what drives her to do her research. “Bringing the issues that producers are dealing with to the forefront in academia is interesting and cool,” Nickles explained. “I enjoy figuring out ways to help producers through extension and outreach, how to give back to them and help them improve their operations. I grew up with these issues firsthand, so I think this was just the perfect avenue for me.”
The beef industry has feeding cattle down to a fine science, but Nickles wants to learn more about how seasonal mud affects this science. One of the goals of her research is to take a deeper dive into how mud may impact a cow’s ability to sustain a healthy metabolism. She explained that the focus is to “hone in on that metabolism and figure out exactly how much energy a cow is going to need to deal with mud.”
Lane Heil, a current student at the university, beef cattle producer, and student worker at the Ohio State beef facility in Columbus, understands firsthand the impacts of mud on cattle. As a beef producer, he has had to deal with mud and feels that “when it comes to cattle, if there is anything that they are spending energy on that is not growth, maintenance, or the rearing of a calf, then that is just wasted energy.”
Heil felt that conducting more research into the effects of mud on cattle would only be seen as a positive. “I think every avenue should always be explored when it comes to us trying to achieve the best care that we can when it comes to taking care of our animals.” This is exactly the goal of Nickles’ research, as her overall goal is to “find a way to manage and feed these cows better when dealing with mud, and give that back to producers.”
Nickles spends much of her time at the research agriculture station in Belle Valley, Ohio. She added a second research farm in Jackson, Ohio this past winter. One study was conducted during the winter months of 2019-2020. While on-site, she collects data by weighing cows, taking blood samples, measuring back fat thicknesses, weighing calves, measuring out feed, and collecting environmental data, mud depth, and temperature measurements. She then takes those measurements and uses them to predict what cattle are going to require to be as healthy as possible. Nickles explained how her research will help farmers in the future by stating that “producers are going to deal with mud—that becoming the new normal—but now we can say: here is what you can feed, here is a way to work around mud and avoid putting those cows in negative energy balances, which could negatively impact calf growth and reproduction later on.”
A day in the life of Nickles involves a lot of hard work and mud-covered shoes, but she feels that it is worth it if her research can be utilized to help the beef producers of Ohio and beyond.