Stephen P. (Steve) Hammack is Professor and Extension Beef Cattle Specialist Emeritus, Texas A&M AgriLife Center – Stephenville. He received a B. S. at Texas A&M University (1965), M. S. at the University of Nevada – Reno (1968), and Ph. D. at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (1973). All degrees were in Animal Science, and graduate emphasis was in population genetics and beef cattle production. Hammack was Extension Beef Cattle Specialist at the Texas AgriLife Center – Stephenville from 1973 until his retirement in August, 2003. He is currently occupying a part-time position in the Extension Animal Science Project Group, still located at the Stephenville Center. His primary emphasis has been on genetic management and cow/calf production systems. As part of the Extension Animal Science Project Group, he coordinated statewide efforts in beef cattle genetic management by developing Texas Adapted Genetic Strategies. TAGS stresses the need for sequential attention to: 1) assessment of a herd’s production and marketing conditions; 2) determination of applicable animal functional characteristics; 3) implementation of efficient breeding systems; 4) choice of appropriate types and breeds; and 5) selection of individual breeding animals, with the intent of maximizing efficiency and financial returns through optimum levels of performance. Hammack is a member of the American Society of Animal Science. He received the Continuing Service Award from the Beef Improvement Federation in 2012.

Beef Cattle