Jennifer J. Tucker

Dr. Jennifer Tucker is a Professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences at the University of Georgia, located on the Tifton Campus. Raised on a registered Angus cattle operation in South Central Kentucky, she grew up learning how to utilize grazing management and help to improve the forages on her family’s farm. She began at the University of Georgia in January 2016, after being the Alabama Extension Forage Specialist for three years. Previously Dr. Tucker worked at UGA in a post-doctoral position in the biomass for bioenergy program on the Tifton Campus. In 2010 she obtained her Ph.D at the University of Kentucky, where she studied the effect of new novel endophyte tall fescue varieties on the physiology and growth of beef cattle.

At UGA, Dr. Tucker serves a split research and extension appointment and serves as the REI Coordinator for the Animal and Dairy Sciences Department on the UGA Tifton Campus. Dr. Tucker has developed an award-winning nationally recognized research and Extension program evaluating the influence of forage quality and grazing management on beef nutrition and production in the Southeast. Specifically, her most recent work has focused on the integration and utilization of Alfalfa in the Deep south, increasing the use of Red Clover in the region, evaluating legume-grass mixtures under varied harvest strategies, and crabgrass as a high-quality forage for beef cattle. Since arriving at UGA in 2016 Dr. Tucker has worked to obtain industry and commodity support for the Better Grazing Program on the UGA-Tifton campus, training top graduate students who receive extensive training in beef-forage systems, being an active member of the UGA Beef and Forage Extension Teams, serving on multiple state and national boards and college committees, and developing lasting collaborations across the state, region, nation, and globe.

The overall objective of my program is to streamline research and extension efforts through applied research evaluations that provide timely and applicable management strategies to the end-user; Resulting in improved beef nutrition and grazing management and extended grazing across the Southeast.