A Lifetime in Livestock: Reflections on Feedlot Nutrition, Industry Change, and the Future of Beef Production from David Hutcheson, Ph D.
When you sit down with someone who has watched an industry evolve for more than six decades, you don’t just get answers—you get a window into history. That’s exactly what happened when I recently visited with a seasoned ruminant nutritionist, David Hutcheson, whose career began in the early 1960s and continues vibrantly today.
Our conversation spanned everything from dairy farms in rural Texas to international consulting work across 21 countries. What emerged was a thoughtful, passionate reflection on how far the cattle and feedlot industries have come—and where they must go next.
From a Texas Dairy Farm to a Global Career
Dr. Hutcheson’s journey began on a small dairy in Lapan, Texas, back when milking was done by hand and technology was still decades behind where we are now. Later, his family moved to Itasca, where he spent his youth milking 90–100 cows every afternoon.
His formal education started at Texas A&M—before it was the university we know today—where he earned a B.S. in Animal Science in 1963. From there, he completed both his master’s and Ph.D. in nutrition at the University of Missouri, finishing in 1970.
Dr. Hutcheson remained on staff at Missouri, teaching nutrition and statistics, conducting research on aging and chronic disease models, and contributing to the university’s veterinary program. Eventually, the High Plains called him home. At Texas A&M’s research center in Amarillo, he led beef cattle research for 15 years before launching his own consulting company, Animal Agricultural Consulting International.
From 1990 to 2019, he worked in 21 countries on projects ranging from dairy-beef systems to water buffalo nutrition to national-scale business models for developing livestock industries.
And he’s still going.
“I’ve enjoyed life. I like what I do, and I’m not going to stop yet,” says Dr. Hutcheson.
How the Industry Has Transformed Since the 1960s
Few people alive can speak firsthand about six decades of change in animal agriculture—but Dr. Hutcheson can.
Here are some of the biggest shifts he described:
1. The Rise of the High Plains Feedlots
The modern feedlot emerged in the 1960s, driven first by the availability of grain sorghum (“milo”). Early operations were relatively small and used technology that would look primitive today. Steam-flaking—now a staple in grain processing—arrived later, and some of the first flakers are still running in New Mexico feedyards.
2. A Geographic Shift to the Corn Belt
By the 1980s and 90s, economics drove much of the industry from Texas and Arizona toward Kansas and Nebraska, where corn was plentiful.
3. Evolution of Grain Processing
Dry-rolled, high-moisture, steam-flaked, and wet-rolled corn each found their place as nutritionists and feedyards optimized for performance and cost.
4. Genetic Change and Carcass Quality
Perhaps the most dramatic change has been genetic progress. When cattle were sold only by weight, marbling wasn’t incentivized. But with the rise of programs like Certified Angus Beef®, the industry shifted toward better quality, tenderness, and consistency.
“We used to get penalized for an 800-pound carcass,” he recalled. “Today we don’t see penalties until 1,000 pounds.”
Crossbreeding—Angus × Simmental, Wagyu, dairy-beef—has further reshaped performance, efficiencies, and product quality.
5. A Changing Market Environment
Today the U.S. has:
- The smallest beef cattle numbers in 15 years
- The highest cattle prices in history
- Strong global demand for high-quality beef
- A booming market for ground beef
“We’re just not producing enough beef to meet demand,” he said matter-of-factly.
6. New Thinking in Nutrition
Nutrition has shifted from simply feeding cattle cheaply to feeding them strategically.
“It’s not least-cost feeding anymore. It’s best-cost feeding,” he emphasized.
Nutritionists now evaluate cost of gain, optimal endpoints, marbling potential, immune function, and animal behavior. He believes we’ll soon see even more individualized nutrition and management, similar to precision feeding systems already used in dairy.
What Really Matters in Feedlot Nutrition
When asked to distill a lifetime of expertise into one core principle, Dr. Hutcheson didn’t hesitate:
“The most important concept is keeping animals healthy—and feeding them the diet that gives you the best cost of gain for the results you want.”
Health, genetics, and nutrition all intersect to determine performance and profitability. And in his view, the immune system starts with one essential component: protein.
“You need protein first, then energy, then everything else. Without the building blocks, the immune system can’t do its job.”
Hutcheson believes the future of nutrition will involve:
- Better understanding of mineral interactions
- More behavioral-based management
- Precision technologies
- Possibly more targeted use of amino acids
- Genetic selection for both performance and health
What He Loves Most About His Work
With all his knowledge, research, and travel, Dr. Hutcheson’s favorite part of feedlot nutrition isn’t technical at all.
“It’s the people,” he said. “Walking the yard, talking through what’s on the ground, doing it together.”
His passion for global agriculture hasn’t gone unnoticed—“They told me in Ethiopia they’d never seen anyone with that much passion,” he laughed.
A Final Word: Look Toward the Future
“Look toward the future. Do the best job you can—whether you’re managing the animals, feeding the animals, or designing diets for the animals,” counsels Hutcheson.
After six decades in livestock production, that message carries weight.
And for those of us still learning the industry—whether from the dairy world, the feedlot world, or somewhere in between—it’s encouragement worth holding onto.
Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.