Sheep Researching on the Range

Dan & Ryan sat down with Dr. Bret Taylor and discussed some opportunities for improvement and how the USDA, ARS Sheep Station is filling that need.  Plus the importance of sheep on the western range landscape.     Dr. J. Bret Taylor is the Research Leader and Director of the USDA, ARS, U.S. Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, ID. The focus of his program is keeping profitable and responsible sheep enterprises on the range. Specifically, his research addresses the livestock production-wildlife interface, alternatives to antibiotics, selenium metabolism in ruminants, improving lifetime production yield of range sheep, managing shrublands and sage grouse habitat, and improving sheep breeds for range-based systems. Bret’s degrees are in biochemistry and animal science, with emphases in toxicology, nutrition, and molecular biology, which were obtained from the Texas A&M University System and New Mexico State University. He is a member of the Society for Range Management, American Society of Animal Science, and International Society for Selenium Research; a former division and associate editor for the Journal of Animal Science and guest editor for the Animal Frontiers journal; and former President of the American Society of Animal Science Western Section.