Francis Fluharty Bio

Dr. Fluharty is head of the Animal and Dairy Science Department at the University of Georgia since May 2018. He was raised on a cow-calf and stocker operation in Eastern Ohio. Prior to relocating to Georgia four years ago, Dr. Fluharty had a 35-year career at The Ohio State University (OSU) where he 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 was responsible for securing more than $7.7 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 have been 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 is the author of over 220 scientific and Extension publications regarding ruminant nutrition and cattle growth including over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 73 abstracts, and 80 proceedings, popular press, web-based 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 over 90 international invited talks as well as 77 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. Dr. Fluharty and wife Janis reside in Athens, Georgia.