Overton, Thomas R

Associate Professor
The objective of my total program is to enhance the productive efficiency and profitability of dairy farm businesses in New York and beyond. My major emphasis is on the portion of the lactation cycle during which cows "transition" from late pregnancy to early lactation because it is the most critical period in terms of productive efficiency, health, reproductive performance, and overall well-being of dairy cattle. Substantial economic losses to the dairy industry occur as a result of compromised production, increased veterinary costs and culling, and delayed reproductive performance as a result of suboptimal transitions to lactation. The metabolic underpinnings of this transition are not well understood, and the dairy industry needs further insight into nutritional and managerial strategies to optimize productivity and health of cows during the transition period. The long-term goal of my research program is to enhance our understanding of these critical metabolic adaptations that must occur if cows are to successfully transition to lactation and to develop nutritional and managerial strategies that can be applied within the dairy industry to improve animal well-being and the profitability of dairy farm businesses. This research program provides the foundation for my extension program, which topically is oriented toward nutrition and management of dairy cows during this timeframe in the lactation cycle. The major programmatic emphasis of my extension program is to deliver these programs to agriservice professionals, dairy farm owners, and dairy farm employees in New York. In addition, I provide primary leadership to short courses in dairy nutrition for agriservice professionals and to major outreach efforts focused toward dairy farm owners and employees in conjunction with our PRO-DAIRY program. Finally, as Associate Director of the PRO-DAIRY program at Cornell, I provide leadership within both statewide and regional efforts (NY Center for Dairy Excellence, Northwest NY Regional Dairy, Field Crops, and Livestock team of Cornell Cooperative Extension) to positively impact the dairy industry in our rural NY communities.

research

research and scholarship focus

My research program focuses on identifying and translating biological opportunities for improved health and performance of dairy cattle into real-world application. Most of my programmatic effort is focused on the "transition" of dairy cows from late pregnancy to early lactation, which is the most critical timeframe in the lactation cycle. Recent efforts have continued our efforts to identify practical nutritional and management strategies to improve health and performance of transition dairy cows, both through on-campus controlled experimentation and well-designed and conducted field studies conducted in cooperation with commercial dairy farms in New York. Furthermore, we have identfied and conducted breakthrough research on a specific area of metabolic regulation that may translate into fundamental changes in how the dairy industry manages transition dairy cows.

research areas

domestic geographic focus

affiliations

faculty appointment in

member of graduate field

teaching

teaching focus

The focus of my teaching effort is to enhance the knowledge base in fundamental principles of dairy cattle nutrition with a distinct emphasis on real-world application. This effort encompasses both major efforts in CALS and also the College of Veterinary Medicine.

service

outreach focus

The focus of my extension/outreach program is to enhance the profitabilities of dairy farms in New York and beyond. This focus of this program largely stems from my research program in transition cow biology and management, and aims specifically at integrated issues of animal well-being and productivity. This program is conducted both through engagement of multiplier audiences (CCE educators, dairy nutritionists, veterinarians) and also dairy farms directly through programs, discussion groups, and on-farm work. Furthermore, this extension/outreach program is seamless with the research program in that some of this activity occurs in conjunction with design and conduct of applied, industry-based research in partnership with dairy farms in New York. In addition to these direct programmatic efforts, I have a major leadership role for extension/outreach programs on both the statewide level as the Associate Director for the PRO-DAIRY program and as the direct leader of the Northwest New York Dairy, Field Crops, and Livestock regional team of CCE.

background

educational background

  • Ph.D., University of Illinois
Keywords: dairy cattle, dairy cattle health, dairy cattle nutrition, dairy cattle nutrition and physiology, dairy management, immune function, liver metabolism, nutritional physiology, PRO-DAIRY