Dr. Bud (Robert A.) Britton was born in Elizabeth, NJ on March 24, 1942.  He attended Bloomfield College for his B.S., followed by his M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of West Virginia.  Bud was a ruminant biochemist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, from 1971 until his untimely death on April 26,1994.  Bud enjoyed working with all students, but he taught and advised primarily at the graduate level during his career.  His research endeavors primarily focused on the study of acidosis, starch utilization, and protein degradation.

Although Bud was involved in a wide range of research projects during his short career, his primary focus was on acidosis in feedlot cattle as they adapted to high-concentrate diets.  His research provided critical advancements in the understanding of ruminal and post-ruminal lactate metabolism and improved the understanding of the role of lactic acid during the adaptation to high-concentrate diets.  He was instrumental in the development of a subacute acidosis model that was highly effective for the evaluation of feed additive efficacy on subacute acidosis during the transition to high-grain diets.  The use of measures of feed intake variation during this critical transition period was novel and helped define the role of Rumensin during this critical step-up period, as well as differentiating the impact of subacute versus acute acidosis.  In addition, his research made significant contributions to the study of starch utilization, focusing on grain type, fermentability, and processing, as well as the roles of protozoa and the effects of dietary fat on starch use and the propensity to induce acidosis.  His inquiries sought to both facilitate this process, for example, studies to enhance ruminal lactate utilization, and experiments assessing the role of absorbed lactate and how it was metabolized.  He had a significant impact on aspects of nutritional management that were difficult to quantify but that substantially reduced the costs of production.  In short, he helped redefine the anomaly that was acidosis in feedlot cattle.

Bud was also an innovator in the study of rumen protein degradability.  This area included both methods to assess protein degradability in vivo and, in the laboratory, including studies describing the limitations of the use of ADIN, and the application of enzymes to characterize rumen protein degradability.  These studies ultimately led to the study of methods to limit rumen degradability, resulting in the development of the non-enzymatic browning treatment, and creation of the patented soybean meal product – Soypass.  One of the most successful patents at the Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Bud’s main strength as a researcher was to bring unique perspective to the understanding of beef cattle nutrition.  He was nontraditional in his background and approach and always encouraged his students to seek the ‘whys’ behind every outcome.  He could make complex explanations understandable for all, and he had a unique ability to communicate complex concepts, from basic nutrition principles to advanced biochemistry, ensuring that knowledge was effectively transferred to both livestock producers and graduate students alike.  He always wanted his doctoral students to “bring something new into the program” as they strived to answer fundamental questions.  Bud was also a willing collaborator, conducting many studies in collaboration with researchers at the US Meat Animal Research Center.

Bud’s career was tragically a short one, but he shaped the paths of many in his time at UNL. The Legends of Feedlot Nutrition Award is designed to ‘recognize individuals who have consistently made significant contributions to the feedlot industry throughout a long, sustained, and distinguished career.’  While Dr. Britton’s career ended prematurely, his impact continues today, and he brought a unique set of skills and a viewpoint that impacted an industry.  He graduated 11 M.S. and 8 Ph.D. students during his career and produced over 100 scientific publications.  His contributions were recognized in 1996 with the Bud Britton Memorial Symposium on Metabolic Disorders of Feedlot Cattle at the American Society of Animal Science annual meeting. Bud and his wife Peggy had 2 children, son, Rob, and daughter, Jodi.

Tom Peters was raised on a farm in southern Minnesota. Tom was the recipient of the following awards: 1977 National Science Student Award, U.S. Naval Science Award, and the National Youth Science Camp.  Tom completed his undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin under the direction of Dr. Art Pope, and he received graduate degrees at the University of Minnesota under Drs. Richard Goodrich and Gene Allen.  Tom was hired at the USDA Sheep Experiment Station in 1980, and he taught at University of Wisconsin-River Falls during the years of 1985-1986.

Tom Peters has spent 39 years as a nutritional consultant and management specialist, and he has focused in the areas of cattle behavior, cattle intake programing and intake prediction, building designs and environment for finishing cattle.  Tom has presented talks and papers around the world and has held two Cattle Housing Symposia.  In addition to cattle nutrition and management consulting, Tom also works in the areas of methane digestion and bio-gas generation from cattle manure.  Tom is owner of Superior Attitude Livestock Nutrition, LLC, a consulting firm that deals in nutrition and management with clients in 12 states in the U.S. and in the countries of Turkey, Ireland, Brazil, and Canada.  Tom has been a member of Camelot Consulting – a firm that advises beef industry companies, and he has been an advisor for several beef allied-industry companies.  Tom is co-owner of BetterFed Beef, a branded beef company utilizing beef × dairy steers, and he is a partner in a 4,000-cow dairy in Wisconsin where he is intensely involved in beef × dairy crossbreeding projects.

Tom’s mottos on life have been “knowledge that is not shared will soon perish” and “the joy IS the journey.”  He feels honored to improve cattle production and beef quality. Tom has been a co-author of 160+ journal articles and trade publications.  But, Tom’s proudest accomplishments include being married for 44 years to Lori Peters.  Tom considers to be a man who “out punted his coverage” given that he was fortunate enough to marry Lori.  Lori and Tom have 2 grown children who champion education, knowledge, and hard work, and he has been blessed with 2 grandchildren and is praying for more – if it is meant to be!  Tom was president of his local school board for 9 years, and he considers civic engagement an important responsibility of all U.S. citizens.  Tom has “partnered” and adored Black Labrador dogs in his daily life, and the black labs, including ones named Olaf, Hubert, and Karl, travel with Tom every day to his clients.

For hobbies, Tom enjoys cross-country ski racing and has completed 25 American Birkebeiner races.  He also has a passion for canoeing the Voyageur canoe routes in Canada and the Arctic, and Tom enjoys restoring and collecting antique wooden boats and antique outboard motors.

Each day, Tom feels honored to be able to better serve his clients and improve beef production.

John R. Brethour was born Sept. 30, 1934, in northwest Riley County, Kansas (40 miles from Manhattan). His farm life was without electricity or indoor plumbing. He attended a nearby one-room schoolhouse, then high school in Clay Center. John earned a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry at K-State and a master’s degree in animal nutrition at Oklahoma State University under Dr. A.D. Tillman.

In 1957, John became the beef cattle research leader at K-State’s Agricultural Research Center in Hays. He was ever enthusiastic about his research and the benefit of using science to help cattle producers be profitable and competitive. John was an exceptional man with respect to intellect, relevancy, dedication, and productivity. His research was unprecedented in the use of ultrasound to monitor growth of finishing cattle. In addition, he developed his own computer processing algorithms to optimize carcass quality and yield outcomes. John’s ultrasound image analysis algorithms ultimately received U.S. patents. He successfully demonstrated the ability of ultrasound to sort cattle into ideal outcomes with multiple wins in beef carcass contests and via the adoption of his methods by the cattle feeding industry.

During 47 years, his research programs involved many additional areas: ruminant nutrition; feed evaluation, storage and processing; new livestock systems design (intact males and single-calf heifer); animal behavior; growth promotion; cow-herd management; breed evaluation; and reproduction. John helped show that a robust original-research program could be conducted off-campus. He preferred the branch stations to the main station on the campus of a land grant university. He loved it’s environment situated among the producer clientele and in the heart of the industry the branch station was created to serve. He was a research pioneer in the nutritional value of grain forage sorghums and wheat; ultrasound technology for the cattle industry to estimate intramuscular fat and predict future carcass merit; and adjusting cattle performance to final carcass weight.

John was a founding member of Cattle Performance Enhancement Company (CPEC).

Some of John’s honors and awards include the following:

• 1980: Distinguished Nutritionist, Distillers Feed Research
• 1989: Outstanding Achievement in Grain Sorghum Utilization, National Grain Sorghum Producers Association.
• 1991: Grand Champion in the Garden City Beef Empire Days Carcass contest. 1997: Distinguished Alumnus Award. KSU Agricultural Alumni Association.
• 1999: Grand Champion in the Denver Stock Show Carcass
• 2001: Grand Champion in the Garden City Beef Empire Days Carcass
• 2003: “Best of the Breeds” national contest ($100,000 prize) which validated ultrasound research for identifying superior animals upstream in the production (Of 140 contest entries, the top eight were selected with John’s ultrasound technology.)
• 2004: Beef Top 40- the 40 most influential people in the beef industry in 40^th anniversary edition of Beef Magazine.
• 2006: Regional winner of the National Beef Cattleman’s Vision award; Livestock and Meat Industry Council “Stockman of the Year” award.
• 2013: Top 50 Industry Leaders- Beef

John Raymond Brethour married Carol June Thomas August 16, 1964 in Lake City, Fla. They had one son, John R. Brethour Jr..  John Brethour passed away at his home in Hays Kansas, May 29, 2007.

Dr. Gerald W. Horn grew up in West Texas and earned his B.S. degree (1966) from Texas Tech University and M. S. (1968) and Ph. D. (1971) degrees from Purdue University. He was a member of the faculty at the University of Georgia for 4 years before joining the Department of Animal Science at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in January 1975. He taught 3 courses to veterinary students at the UGA and conducted research on the role of gastrointestinal hormones in the pathophysiology of ruminal lactic acid acidosis, and endotoxemia and the “sudden death syndrome” of feedlot cattle.

Soon after joining OSU, he recognized the unique and economically important role of wheat pasture for growing cattle in the southern Great Plains. He provided vision and leadership for developing a first-of-its-kind facility in the U.S. that was transformational for developing a multidisciplinary research and education program focused on dual purpose wheat.  He devoted much of his career toward increasing the biological efficiency and profitability of these cattle.  Finishing performance and carcass characteristics were measured when possible.  Collectively, this research undergirds most modern nutrition and management practices for growing cattle on wheat and other small grains pasture in the U.S.

With the excellent collaboration of Drs. Clint Krehbiel, Phillip Lancaster and David Lalman, the focus of this research shifted in 2000 to a series of “system” studies of the predominant stocker/grower programs in the southern Great Plains.  Traditional feedlot performance and carcass data were collected and concomitant fundamental studies focused on marbling development and understanding the physiological bases for differences in finishing performance were conducted.

Dr. Horn taught 6 different courses (2408 students) to undergraduate, graduate or veterinary students during his tenure at the OSU.  His flagship courses were Advanced Ruminant Nutrition for graduate students taught from 1975-2015 and Stocker and Feedlot Cattle Management which he developed as a new course in 1992 and taught it every spring through 2016.  He served as coordinator of the Animal Science Graduate Program for 16 years, and as major advisor of 38 graduate students and member of the graduate committees of 67 additional graduate students.

Dr. Horn has authored or co-authored 117 refereed journal articles, 203 abstracts at scientific meetings, 196 research reports of the Oklahoma Agriculture Experiment Station, and 85 papers in conference proceedings.  He has been a member of the ASAS since 1971, ARPAS since 1975 and the PNC circa 1985.  Dr. Horn received the ASAS Animal Management Award (1998), ASAS “Fellow” Award (2008) and the ASAS Southern Section Distinguished Service Award in 2016.

Dr. Horn is a leader by example and models professionalism and excellence in all his endeavors.  He views the students he mentored as his most rewarding and signal legacy to the beef cattle industry.  Many of them are in leadership positions in the feedlot and allied industries, academia or farm/ranch enterprises in the U.S., Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay.

Gerald and his wife, Chris, reside in Stillwater, Oklahoma and will celebrate their 55^th wedding anniversary this coming August.  They have 2 grown daughters and 2 grandsons.

Terry Mader was raised on a Northwest Kansas wheat farm, while showing Hereford cattle at the county and state fairs.  Dr. Mader earned his B.S. in Feed Science and Management from Kansas State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition from Oklahoma State University (OSU). Dr. Mader is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska, Department of Animal Science. Prior to obtaining his degrees at OSU, Dr. Mader worked as a manager for an integrated farming operation and a grain and feed milling company.

During his academic career, Dr. Mader developed an internationally recognized research and outreach program addressing problems and concerns affecting the feedlot industry, including implant/growth promoting strategies, feed resource and facilities management, and managing environmental stress. Early efforts were devoted to developing birth to slaughter growth promoting strategies, which matched product dosage/potency to the animals’ stage of production. Research efforts evolved into assessing the interaction of growth promotant and season (heat vs cold) of the year. Additional studies were pursued, including effects of dietary components, feed additives, facilities management, and pen surface conditions on animal comfort/discomfort under hot and cold environmental conditions. Research demonstrated that increasing fiber level in high concentrate feedlot diets actually lowers body temperature under heat stress, due to poor fiber digestion. Also, recently published data demonstrated a high correlation between feedlot soil temperatures and cattle water consumption (winter and summer). Among seasons pen surface temperature and/or conditions appear to be a better indicator of stress and discomfort than many weather parameters. As a result of these research efforts, Dr. Mader was instrumental in developing a comprehensive environmental stress index that encompasses a range of temperatures from >120 degrees F to < -40 degrees F for domestic food animals (primarily cattle). The index adjusts ambient temperatures for relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation. The index is useful for tracking acclimation rate, stress level, and energy requirements as animals move from season to season and are exposed to adverse weather events. In addition, the model can aid in identifying emergency preparedness protocols, which might need to be considered when catastrophic environmental events occur.

Dr. Mader’s current activities include involvement in national and international projects studying and mitigating environmental effects on animal productivity.  He is past-Chairman of the FASS Beef Cattle sub-committee on the Guide for Care of Agricultural Animals, past Chairman of the Professional Animal Auditors Certification Organization and has been an active member of the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. Previously, Dr. Mader was a recipient of the American Society of Animal Science Animal Management Award, an honorary professor of Animal Production at the University of Queensland in Australia, and OSU-Advanced Degree Graduate of Distinction Award. He is author or co-author of over 400 scientific publications. Dr. Mader has been Head of Mader Consulting, a business entity devoted to the implementation of ethical animal welfare and sustainable production practices as well as development of management strategies to minimize environmental stress and effects of climate variability on livestock.

Dr. Duane Theuninck was raised on a family farm near Marshall, Minnesota. It was a typical Midwest farm where his family raised corn, soybeans, cattle and hogs, along with his mom’s flock of chickens. Duane’s interest in livestock production was nurtured as an active member of 4-H, where he showed cattle and pigs, participating with livestock judging teams and engaging in statewide 4-H leadership.

Duane received his Bachelors, Masters. and Ph.D. degrees in Animal Science from the University of Minnesota. His major professor, Dr. Dick Goodrich, was one of the inaugural inductees into the Legends of Feedlot Nutrition. It is very special and humbling for Duane to follow in those footsteps.

Dr. Theuninck began his career as a beef cattle nutritionist with Cargill’s feed business in 1981. His first role was research nutritionist at the research facility in Elk River, MN. The position also included technical service responsibility, and those early years provided opportunities to learn about all sectors of the beef industry across the U.S. From 1987 through 2002, Duane alternated between the research facility and Cargill’s offices in the Minneapolis area, where he provided technical leadership to Cargill Animal Nutrition’s beef cattle business around the world. Duane worked with colleagues in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They worked on research, product development, and technical consulting for feedlot, stocker, and cow/calf operations.

One of the most challenging and gratifying aspects of Duane’s time with Cargill Animal Nutrition was working with a team to develop the Max system of ration formulation. It was amazing to be part of an extremely talented team that created parallel formulation systems for beef, dairy, and swine. BeefMax contains unique models of beef cattle nutrition that are used to feed millions of cattle around the world.

In 2002, Dr. Theuninck took on a new role as in-house nutritionist for Cargill Cattle Feeders (CCF). With five feedlots and a capacity of about 275,000 animals, CCF was one of the leading cattle feeding companies in the world. During his tenure at CCF, Duane developed a research facility, created a unique system for sorting cattle, and instituted new methods for mining the tremendous amounts of data generated by feedlots. While at CCF, Duane was active on the TCFA research committee and chaired the NCBA Beef Safety committee. He returned to Cargill Animal Nutrition in 2016, where he resumed technical leadership of the beef business until retiring in 2020.

Looking back at his 39-year career with Cargill, Dr. Theuninck will tell you that he was extremely fortunate to work with and learn from hundreds of excellent scientists and outstanding leaders. One of the most enjoyable and rewarding parts of the job was helping new employees grow and develop and become successful.

Duane and his wife, Deb Anderson, live in Canyon, Texas. Deb and Duane have four children that are scattered across four continents. They cherish time they get to spend with their children and one very special granddaughter.

Dr. Kendall Karr grew up traveling to feedyards in Texas and Kansas with his feedlot nutritionist father, LOFN honoree, Dr. Mel Karr.  The PNC now has its first father and son induction into the Legends of Feedlot Nutrition.

Dr. Karr not only loves the cattle industry, but he also loves the Equine industry.  Kendall and Mel owned and trained running Quarter Horses with major wins in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.  His racing career culminated in an invitation to the Champion of Champions race in California for the top ten horses in the country.  In addition, while working on his M.S., he coached the Texas Tech Horse Judging team to a second-place finish at the World QH Congress and won the World QH show.

Kendall worked as an undergraduate research assistant at the Texas Tech Burnett Center for future feedlot nutritionists Dr. Johnny Horton, Dr. Bob Beville, and Dr. Dan Arnt, gaining further appreciation for the feeding industry that his father had instilled in him.  He subsequently worked under LOFN inductee Dr. Rod Preston for his M.S. at Texas Tech University, where his research involved developing innovative grain processing methods.  He went on to study for his Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky under the direction of Dr. George Mitchell and Dr. Karl Dawson, where his research focused on rumen microbiology.  Following graduation from his Ph.D. program, Kendall joined the Purina Mills feedlot consulting team and moved to Lubbock to consult in the South Plains Feedyards.  He was also actively involved in research at the Purina research facility and at his client’s feedlots.

In 1999, Kendall was hired by Cactus Feeders to join LOFN inductee Dr. Spencer Swingle as an in-house nutritionist.  During his tenure at Cactus Feeders, he was promoted to Director of Nutrition Services and subsequently to Director of Research and Nutrition Services.

Kendall’s strengths as a consulting nutritionist lie in the training, mentoring, and development of feedyard personnel.  His greatest satisfaction was watching many of these individuals succeed within the company.  As an excellent teacher, he continually stressed the “why” and not just the “how” things are done.  He is also proud of being instrumental in instituting the two-ration system of feeding to the Cactus organization, which is now used in all Cactus Feedyards and has proved to be economically beneficial.

As the Director of Research and Nutrition at Cactus, Kendall’s collaboration with Dr. Swingle and various trial sponsors led to many published abstracts and refereed journal articles.  Dr. Karr has collaborated in research trials on numerous important industry topics, including:

• Tylan and roughage levels;
• Feeding value of new feed ingredients and additives;
• Supplementing different levels and sources of fat to low-fat WDGS;
• Possible liver abscess interventions;
• Serial harvest studies and implanting strategies in various production and feeding scenarios;
• Implanting long-day cattle after the FDA changes to reimplanting rules;
• Trials involving beef by dairy cross calves to determine how best to start, manage, and implant these cattle, including serial harvest studies to determine the optimum days on feed for the greatest return.

Kendall has been an invited speaker at many nutrition conferences including PNC, OSU, and ASAS, as well as international conferences in France, Mexico, and Argentina.  He has also been affiliated with many industry organizations and advisory boards over his 32 years as a nutritionist, including:  serving as a member of PNC since its inception and a past president;  as chair and member of the TCFA research committee for over twenty years;  and as a member of the industry and academia consortium that directed a USDA-funded research grant to determine the feeding value and supplementation of WDGS in the South Plains.

Dr. Karr and his wife Trish live in Canyon, Texas, near two of their daughters and four grandchildren.  He looks forward to more grandchildren when his daughter, a veterinarian, gets married in June.