Cattle focus of high-altitude research in NM

More than 100 young Angus and Hereford bulls are on a working vacation at 8,700 feet above sea level in northern New Mexico, chomping on lush, high-meadow grass, helping researchers and ranchers get a handle on a disease that causes 75,000 cattle deaths each year across the West. In a study by New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Beef Cattle Performance Association, researchers are conducting high-altitude cattle performance testing on the bulls to determine which are susceptible to high altitude disease. The findings could help ranchers develop a genetic line of altitude-resistant cattle. An estimated 1.5 million cattle are raised annually at high elevations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico. High-altitude disease — essentially a bovine equivalent to human hypertension — impacts herds that graze above 5,000 feet. The disease kills 3 percent to 5 percent of cattle each year, a loss valued at more than $60 million, said Tim Holt, veterinarian and professor at Colorado State University. Manny Encinias, beef specialist at New Mexico State, said the project is the first time cattle have been tested in a centralized high-altitude performance program on a grass-only diet...AP