24 - Paul Beck, PhD

Paul Beck was born in Guthrie, OK and raised on a wheat and livestock farm.  He received a B. S. and M. S. degrees in Animal Science from Oklahoma State University in 1990 and 1993, respectively.  Afterwards, Paul returned to manage the 1,600-acre wheat, stocker cattle, and cow-calf farm.  In 1997, Paul became a herdsman managing the cow-calf and stocker cattle research at the University of Arkansas Southwest Research & Extension Center (SWREC) and received his Ph.D. in Animal Science in May 2003, joining the faculty of the University of Arkansas at the SWREC in July of 2004 with a 60% research and 40% Extension appointment.  Paul was promoted to Associate Professor in 2008 and Professor in 2012. His research has focused on the study of integrated grazing systems for sustainable, economical, and environmentally sound forage and beef production. This research includes forage-based systems for cow-calf and stocker cattle operations in the Southeastern United States, backgrounding diets for growing cattle, the effects of pre-feeding management on carcass quality, and the environmental impact of livestock production.  Paul moved to the Oklahoma State University Department of Animal and Food Sciences in August 2018 and is currently the state extension beef cattle specialist stocker-feedlot nutrition, and the Dennis and Marta White Endowed Chair.