Samuel R Garcia

Interests

Research

Sustainable agriculture, beef production, making ruminant animals more efficient win less impact on the environment, palatability and food safety issues regarding meat animals.

Teaching

Beef Production, Meat Animal Production, Sustainable agriculture, Meat harvesting and processing and HACCP

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Garcia, S. R., Hall, L. W., & Collier, R. J. (2012). The Effects of Heat Stress on Beef Cattle Production. In Climatology.
• Hall, L. W., Garcia, S., Collier, R. J., Collier, R. J., & Garcia, S. R. (2012). Climatology: The effects of heat stress on beef cattle production. In Climatology: The effects of heat stress on beef cattle production. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Journals/Publications

• Waller, B. E., Garcia, S. R., Fuerniss, L. K., Johnson, B. J., Woerner, D. R., & Wulf, D. M. (2023).

  Effects of the F94L myostatin gene mutation in beef × dairy crossed cattle on muscle fiber type, live performance, carcass characteristics, and boxed beef and retail cut yields

  . Journal of Animal Science, 101(Supplement_3), 473-474. doi:10.1093/jas/skad324
• Diaz, D. E., Beard, J., Garcia, S., Rios, A., Grijalva, P., Webster, C., Petersen, J. L., Yates, D. T., & Schmidt, T. B. (2022). 12 Growth Performance, Physiology, and Carcass Merit of Supplementing Brahman Steers with Zilpaterol Hydrochloride Under Heat Stress Conditions. Journal of Animal Science, 100(Supplement_4), 6-7. doi:10.1093/jas/skac313.008
• Garcia, S., Yates, D. T., Swanson, R. M., Sieck, R. L., Schmidt, T. B., Reith, R. R., Petersen, J. L., Grijalva, P. C., Diaz, D. E., Yates, D. T., Swanson, R. M., Sieck, R. L., Schmidt, T. B., Reith, R. R., Petersen, J. L., Grijalva, P. C., Garcia, S., & Diaz, D. E. (2020). PSI-14 Feeding β-agonists under heat stress conditions in feedlot cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 98(Supplement_4), 266-266. doi:10.1093/jas/skaa278.479
  More info

  Abstract Red Angus steers (n = 24; 260 ± 25 kg) were used to analyze the effects of supplementation of zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) under heat stress conditions on respiration rate (RR), rectal temperature (RT), growth performance (GP), and carcass traits (CT). Steers were randomly assigned to a 2 x 2 factorial treatment arrangement (n = 6/group) with factors including heat stress (HS; THI=71 to 83) or thermal neutral (TN; THI=27 to 39) conditions and with/without supplementation of ZH (0 or 8.38 mg/kg/d on 88% DM basis). Steers were provided 9 d to acclimate to tie stalls rooms under TN conditions before starting the study. TN steers were pair-fed to the average daily dry matter intake (DMI) of HS steers. Ad libitum water consumption (WC) was recorded daily. HS and TN steers were harvested on d 22 and 23, respectively. By design, DMI was not different between environments (P = 0.43). DMI also did not differ between supplement groups (P = 0.31). RT, RR, and WC were greater (P < 0.01) in HS steers compared to TN steers. There was a supplement by environment interaction (P = 0.02) for RT, as HS steers fed ZH had lower RT than HS control steers (39.1 vs 39.5 ℃). ADG was 20% higher (P = 0.04) in HS steers compared to TN steers. CT did not differ (P = >0.05) due to environment, treatment, or interactions between environment and ZH supplementation. Our results suggest that feedlot steers under our experimental conditions display some sensitivity to HS through GP, RR, and RT, however, this did not translate to an impact on CT. Furthermore, ZH supplementation under HS conditions appears to impact thermoregulatory responses positively, yet this did not impact GP or CT.
• Garcia, S. R., Bernal-Rigoli, J. C., Duff, G. C., Allen, J. A., Marchello, J. A., Cuneo, S. P., Xie, G., hall, l. w., & Burrows, C. (2015). Effects of housing and feeding systems on performance of neonatal Holstein Bull Calves. Journal of Animal Science.
• Garcia, S. R., & Marchello, J. A. (2014). Evaluating Feedlot Performance and Carcass Merit of Crossbred Cattle. International Journal of Science Commerce and Humanities.
• Allen, J. D., Marchello, J. A., Cuneo, S. P., Xie, G., Marchello, J. A., Hall, L. W., Garcia, S. R., Duff, G. C., Cuneo, S. P., Burrows, C. D., Bernal-rigoli, J. C., & Allen, J. D. (2012). Effects of housing and feeding systems on performance of neonatal Holstein bull calves.. Journal of animal science, 90(8), 2818-25. doi:10.2527/jas.2011-4722
  More info

  As the dairy industry continues to grow, more dairy calves are available for dairy, beef, and veal purposes. Rearing systems must be highly efficient to make this industry cost efficient, making the evaluation of rearing methods important to establish the most practical method. A study was designed and conducted to evaluate effects of housing and feeding systems on performance of neonatal Holstein bull calves. Treatments (2 × 2 factorial arrangement) consisted of: 1) individually housed, bottle-fed (n = 5 bull calves); 2) individually housed, bucket-fed (n = 5 bull calves); 3) group-housed, bottle-fed (n = 5 pens; 4 bull calves/pen); and 4) group-housed, bucket- (trough) fed (n = 5 pens; 3 or 4 bull calves/pen). Feeding treatments began on d 7 when calves had been acclimated to their new environment. Body weight measurements were collected every 7 d and blood samples were collected on d 0, 28, 55, and 66 for β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) concentration as a gross indicator of ruminal development. No housing × feeding interactions or feeding treatment effects were observed (P > 0.10). Average DMI (dry feed plus milk replacer) was increased (P < 0.05) for group-housed vs. individual animals after d 41, and final BW was greater (P < 0.05) for group-housed calves compared with individually housed calves. Feed efficiency and ADG, however, remained similar (P > 0.10) for all treatments. Fecal scores (P > 0.26), CV for BW (P > 0.26), and BHBA concentrations (P > 0.14) showed no differences among treatments. Housing system had greater effect on calf performance compared with milk feeding regimen.

Others

• Garcia, S. R. (2020, May). How to Butcher a Pig (On Farm Pig Harvest Procedures). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojctijm2Tgo
  More info

  Due to COVID shut downs at several pork processing plants, there was much demand for science-based procedures for on-farm pig harvest. This video was produced and published with the support of the National Pork Board.