Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium and Convention
Beef Improvement Federation Research Symposium and Convention

Giess, Prossser Win Baker/Cundiff Honors

Lane Giess (right), Fort Collins, Colorado, receives the BIF Baker/Cundiff Award from Matt Perrier, 2022 BIF president. Giess was honored June 3 at the organization’s 54th annual symposium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.


Haleigh Prosser, Canyon, Texas, receives the BIF Baker/Cundiff Award from Matt Perrier, 2022 BIF president. Prosser was honored June 3 at the organization’s 54th annual symposium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (June 7, 2022) — The Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) presented Baker/Cundiff Awards to Lane Giess, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Haleigh Prosser, Canyon, Texas, June 3 during the group’s annual symposium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The annual Frank Baker/Larry Cundiff Beef Improvement Essay Contest for graduate students provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding student research and competitive writing in honor of Frank Baker and Larry Cundiff.

Giess is working on his doctorate at Colorado State University. His essay was titled “High-impact data programs: A framework for expanded opportunities in genetic evaluation.”

Prosser is working on her master’s at West Texas A&M University. Her essay was titled “Effectiveness of a genome-wide association study using DNA pooling to make management decisions in feedlot cattle.”

Both will receive a $1,000 scholarship, and their winning essays will be posted to https://beefimprovement.org/symposium website.

Baker is widely recognized as the “founding father” of BIF. He played a key leadership role in helping establish BIF in 1968 while he was chairman of the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Cundiff retired after 40 years as a research geneticist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. He was the research leader of the Genetics and Breeding Research Unit at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center from 1976 until 2005. Cundiff designed, conducted and published some of the most important beef breeding research of the 20th century. He also led in the transfer of new technology to the beef industry through his continued work in BIF and presentations made across the nation and around the world.

More than 300 beef producers, academia and industry representatives attended the organizationʼs 54th Annual Research Symposium and Convention in Las Cruces, New Mexico. BIFʼs mission is to help improve the industry by promoting greater acceptance of beef cattle performance evaluation.

For more information about this yearʼs symposium, including additional award winners, Angus Media coverage of the symposium and an archive to coverage of past conferences, go to BIFconference.com.

Editor’s note: This news release was provided by the Beef Improvement Federation and can thus be reproduced without further permissions. For additional information, contact Angie Stump Denton, BIF communication coordinator, at angiedenton@ksu.edu or 785-562-6197.


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