Donation boosts genetics of MAFES beef cattle herd

Virgil Lovell, far left, owner of Ankony Angus Corp., discusses the university's beef research program with, from left, President Donald Zacharias, Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Rodney Foil, and Department of Animal and Dairy Science Head Bill Able.

Calves from one of the world's top Angus herds will arrive at the MAFES Beef Unit on the South Farm this spring, but they're not coming in a cattle trailer.

The calves will be delivered by cows in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station herd that were implanted with Angus embryos during December.

The 200 embryos were donated to the herd by Ankony Ranch in Minatare, Neb. Ankony is the world's largest purebred Angus ranch.

"The embryos are the very best we have and should make a significant improvement in the Mississippi State herd," said Dave Duello, manager of Ankony's Minatare operation.

He added that long-term contacts with the university's Department of Animal and Dairy Science personnel prompted the donation.

Veterinarians from the College of Veterinary Medicine implanted the embryos in selected heifers from the MAFES herd.

"The calves from the donated embryos will give us an immediate boost in the Angus genetics of the herd," said department head Bill Able. "These calves will have a major impact on our teaching and research programs."