Academic Profile

Biography

Dr. Francis L. Fluharty, head of the Animal and Dairy Science Department at the University of Georgia, came to UGA in May 2018. He was raised on a cow-calf and stocker operation in Eastern Ohio. He had a 35-year career at The Ohio State University (OSU) prior to coming to UGA. In 1982, after receiving his bachelor’s degree from OSU, he was hired to manage the OSU research feedlot in Wooster, Ohio, and he completed his graduate degrees while being a full-time feedlot manager. After completing his PhD., in 1993, he joined the faculty of the Animal Sciences Department, and from 1999 through 2018, served as Coordinator of the Ohio Beef Industry Center at The Ohio State University. In this role, he coordinated Extension, research, and educational activities affecting Ohio’s beef industry. Dr. Fluharty has obtaining over $7.6 million in grant funds from both private and public entities, and facilitated multidisciplinary research and outreach education programs that link agriculture with consumers.

His primary research interests are determining the effects of energy and protein intake on animal growth, fat deposition and carcass composition, and the nutritional requirements of stressed cattle, especially as they relate to rumen function. In addition to his research, Dr. Fluharty taught Beef Production for 20 years at OSU, and collaborated in a team-taught course on Branded Food Products in the marketplace. He oversaw the development of an all-natural branded beef program, Ohio Signature Beef™, which was based on Angus genetics, and he developed the production and management protocols for Sakura Wagyu Farms and acts as their consulting nutritionist, overseeing diet formulations based on each farm’s feedstuffs and capabilities. He is the author of over 220 scientific and Extension publications regarding ruminant nutrition and cattle growth including 72 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 73 abstracts, and 80 proceedings, popular press, webbased materials, and research reports. He has worked with agriculturally-based economic development in the U.S. and South America and consulted in feedlot nutrition and management, and forage-based production systems throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, England, France, and Italy, and has given 90 international invited talks as well as 72 invited talks in the United States.

Dr. Fluharty has devoted his career to improving economic opportunities for farm and ranch families through improved management information. His invited talks cover all aspects of ruminant nutrition and management, as well as marketing branded meat products. His primary Extension programming has been through the creation of both cow-calf and feedlot management schools. These schools required producers to attend an eight-week course with 24 hours of instructional time. One of the main objectives of these schools was to provide for consistency of information to beef producers while offering advanced educational opportunities. Over 950 cattle producers have attended these cow-calf and feedlot management schools.

B.S., The Ohio State University
M.S., The Ohio State University
Ph.D., The Ohio State University

Selected Recent Publications

1. Nickles, K. R., Garcia-Guerra, A., Fluharty, F. L., Kieffer, J. D., Relling, A. E., & Parker, A. J. (2022). Energy restriction and housing of pregnant beef heifers in mud decreases body weight and conceptus free live weight. Transl Anim Sci, 6(3), txac101. doi:10.1093/tas/txac101
2. Nickles, Kirsten R.  Alejandro E. Relling, Alvaro Garcia-Guerra, Francis L. Fluharty, Justin Kieffer,and Anthony J. Parker. 2022. Beef cows housed in mud during late gestation have greater net energy requirements compared with cows housed on wood chip bedding. Transl. Anim. Sci. 6:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac045.
3. Nickles, Kirsten R., Alejandro E. Relling, Alvaro Garcia-Guerra, Francis L. Fluharty, Anthony J. Parker. 2022. Short communication: A comparison between two glucose measurement methods in beef steers during a glucose tolerance test. PLoS ONE 17(7): e0271673. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271673.
4. Lourenco, J.M.; Welch, C.B.; Krause, T.R.; Wieczorek, M.A.; Fluharty, F.L.; Rothrock, M.J.; Pringle, T.D.; Callaway, T.R. Fecal Microbiome Differences in Angus Steers with Differing Feed Efficiencies during the Feedlot-Finishing Phase. Microorganisms 2022, 10, 1128. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10061128.
5. Garza III, Horatio, Jerad R. Jaborek, Henry N. Zerby, Steven J. Moeller, Macdonald P. Wick, Francis L. Fluharty, Eric M. England, and Lyda G. Garcia. 2021. The effects of age, sex, and hot carcass weight on cooked lamb flavor and off-flavor in four muscle cuts. Transl. Anim. Sci. 5:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txab083.
6. Campbell, B.J., Gelley, C.H., McCutcheon, J.S., Fluharty, F.L., Parker, A.J. 2021. A comparison of annual forages and stockpiled pasture on the growth and health parameters of grazing fall-born lambs. Small Ruminant Research. 196:1-7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2021.106335.
7. Campbell, B.J., McCutcheon, J.S., Marsh, A. E., Fluharty, F.L., Parker, A.J. 2021. Delayed weaning improves the growth of lambs grazing chicory (Cichorium intybus) pastures. Small Ruminant Research. 204: 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2021.106517.
8. Campbell, Braden. J., Marsh, A.E., Parker, E. M., McCutcheon, J.S., Fluharty, F.L., Parker, A.J. 2021. The effects of protein supplementation and pasture maintenance on the growth, parasite burden, and economic return of pasture-raised lambs. Transl. Anim. Sci. 5: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txab113.
9. Welch, Christina B., Jeferson M. Lourenco, Taylor R. Krause, Darren S. Seidel, Francis L. Fluharty, T. Dean Pringle and Todd Callaway. 2021. Evaluation of the fecal bacterial communities of Angus Steers with divergent feed efficiencies across the lifespan from weaning to slaughter. Frontiers in Veterinary Medicine. 8:1-14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.597405.
10. Lamm, K. W., N. L. Randall, F. L. Fluharty. 2021. Critical Issues Facing the Animal and Food Industry: A Delphi Analysis. Transl. Anim. Sci. 5:1-10. txaa213, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaa213.
11. Freitas, T. B., Felix, T. L., Clark, C., Fluharty, F. L., & Relling, A. E. (2021). Effect of feeding dry-rolled corn or whole shelled corn during the finishing phase on growth performance and carcass characteristics.. Transl Anim Sci, 5(1), txaa228. doi:10.1093/tas/txaa228
12. Freitas, T. B., Felix, T. L., Shriver, W., Fluharty, F. L., & Relling, A. E. 2020. Effect of corn processing on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and plasma glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and metabolite concentrations in feedlot cattle. Transl Anim Sci, 4(2), txaa009. https://doi:10.1093/tas/txaa009.
13. Jaborek, J. R., Relling, A. E., Fluharty, F. L., Moeller, S. J., & Zerby, H. N. 2020. Opportunities to improve the accuracy of the United States Department of Agriculture beef yield grade equation through precision agriculture.. Transl Anim Sci, 4(2), txaa033. https://doi:10.1093/tas/txaa033.
14. Relling, A. E., Clevenger, D. D., & Fluharty, F. L. 2020. Effect of oscillating feeding time and corn processing on performance and carcass characteristics of feedlot steers.. Transl Anim Sci, 4(2), 974-979. https://doi:10.1093/tas/txaa103.
15. Jaborek, J. R., Zerby, H. N., Wick, M. P., Fluharty, F. L., & Moeller, S. J. 2020. Effect of energy source and level, animal age, and sex on the flavor profile of sheep meat.. Transl Anim Sci, 4(2), 1140-1147. https://doi:10.1093/tas/txaa081.
16. Lamm, K. W., N. L. Randall, F. L. Fluharty. 2020. Critical Issues Facing the Animal and Food Industry: A Delphi Analysis. Transl Anim. Sci, txaa213, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaa213.
17. Jaborek, J. R., H. N. Zerby, S. J. Moeller, A. E. Relling, and F. L. Fluharty. 2019. Evaluation of feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, carcass retail cut distribution, Warner-Bratzler shear force, and fatty acid composition of crossbred Jersey steers and heifers. Applied Animal Science 35:615-627.
18. Lourenco, Jeferson M., Michael J. Rothrock Jr., Francis L. Fluharty and Todd R. Callaway. 2019. The Successional Changes in the Gut Microbiome of Pasture-Raised Chickens Fed SoyContaining and Soy-Free Diets. Front. Sustain. Food Syst., 15 May 2019. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00035.
19. Jaborek, J. R., H. N. Zerby, S. J. Moeller, A. E. Relling, and F. L. Fluharty. 2019. Evaluation of feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, carcass retail cut distribution, Warner-Bratzler shear force, and fatty acid composition of purebred Jersey and crossbred Jersey steers. Translational Animal Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txz110.
20. Lourenco, J.M., F. Fluharty, and T. R. Callaway. 2018. A refreshed view of the rumen microbiome of beef cattle in light of next generation DNA sequencing. Arch. Anim. Poult. Sci. 2018; 1:15-17.
21. Jaborek, J. R., H. N. Zerby, S. J. Moeller, and F. L. Fluharty. 2018. Effect of energy source and level, and sex on growth, performance, and carcass characteristics of long-fed lambs. Small Ruminant Research. 167:61-69.
22. Jaborek, J. R., H. N. Zerby, S. J. Moeller, M. P. Wick, F. L. Fluharty, H. Garza III, L. G. Garcia, and E. M. England. 2018. Effect of energy source and level, and animal age and sex on meat characteristics of sheep. Small Ruminant Research. 166:53-60.
23. Campbell, B. N., A. N. Pullin, M. D. Pairis-Garcia, and F. L. Fluharty. 2017. The effects of alternative weaning strategies on lamb health and performance. Small Ruminant Research. 156:57-65.
24. Campbell, B. N., M. D. Pairis-Garcia, M. R. Campler, L. E. Moraes, J. S. McCutcheon, F. L. Fluharty. 2017. An investigation of oral moxidectin carryover to nursing lambs via milk. Small Ruminant Research. 154:9-12.
25. Fluharty, F. L., H. N. Zerby, G. D. Lowe, D. D. Clevenger, and A. E. Relling. 2017. Effects of feeding corn silage, pelleted, ensiled, or pelleted and ensiled alfalfa on growth and carcass characteristics of lamb. S. African J. Agricultural Research. 47:704-711.
26. Jaborek, J. R., H. N. Zerby, S. J. Moeller, and F. L. Fluharty. 2017. Effect of energy source and level, and sex on growth, performance, and carcass characteristics of lambs. Small Ruminant Research. 151:117-123.
27. Relling, Alejandro, Gary Lowe, Francis Fluharty. 2017. Effect of oscillating time of feeding and oscillating diet formulation on performance and carcass characteristics in feedlot steers. Prof. Anim. Sci. 33:160-165.
28. Pullin AN, Pairis-Garcia MD, Campbell BJ, Campler MR, Proudfoot KL, Fluharty FL. 2017. The effect of social dynamics and environment at time of early weaning on short- and long-term lamb behavior in a pasture and feedlot setting. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 197:32-39.