With $250,000 in new funding and a new director, the Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State is hoping to support and improve the cattle industry.

“The purpose of IBC is to enhance profitability and opportunities,” said Iowa Beef Center Director John Lawrence.

Lawrence, an extension livestock economist at ISU since 1991, was named to the position in July.

With a $150,000 allocation from Extension 21 and a $100,000 grant from the Iowa Legislature, Lawrence said he is ready to start the improvement programs.

“We will use the funds to support educational programs around the state, and we are working with the Iowa Cattlemen Association on developing a statewide database on Iowa cattle,” Lawrence said.

The new database will be beneficial to ISU students, he said.

“The database will provide students with real-world examples of the types of sophisticated management decisions that beef producers face,” Lawrence said.

Another project the center is working on involves electronic identification of cattle using ear tags. By using these tags, the cattle can be monitored throughout their lifetimes.

“This will allow retailers to verify the original source of the meat and learn what standards were met during the animal’s production cycle,” Lawrence said.

Above all, Lawrence said he hopes to bring the Iowa cattle industry back to the top.

“In the early 1970s, Iowa was the No. 1 cattle feeding state in the nation. I want to see Iowa No. 1 again,” Lawrence said. “Not in numbers, but rather No. 1 in product quality, food safety, technology adoption, environmentally friendly production systems, knowledge-based decision making, and most importantly, producer profitability.

“If we achieve these goals, the beef industry will grow and prosper in Iowa in a responsible manner,” he said.