Team Leader
Das Kulangara Veettil
Texas A&M
Animal Science
vishnudasveettil@tamu.edu
Project Type
Research
Who Can Join
Masters Students, Undergraduate Students
Project Description
Cow-calf operations serve as the backbone of the U.S. beef industry but face persistent economic uncertainty due to volatile feed prices, fluctuating calf markets, weather variability, and animal health challenges. This project aims to address those complexities by converting a previously developed causal loop diagram (CLD) into a quantitative system dynamics (SD) model that simulates the biological and financial behavior of cow-calf operations over time.
Working with the Vensim software platform, the project will model key system components such as herd growth, reproductive efficiency, feed demand, veterinary costs, and calf revenues using stock-and-flow equations. Students will collect and integrate data from USDA, NOAA, and peer-reviewed sources to ensure the model is grounded in real world production and market conditions.
The simulation will run scenario based analyses, exploring the impacts of feed cost spikes, market downturns, disease outbreaks, or climate stressors over a ten year horizon. The model will help identify leverage points where strategic decisions like altering breeding ratios, adjusting feeding strategies, or applying policy incentives can improve long-term economic resilience.
In addition to modeling work, students will collaboratively write a research article based on the project, contributing to the academic literature on beef systems modeling. This project offers a rare opportunity to blend biology, economics, and systems thinking into a usable decision support tool for ranchers, researchers, and policymakers.
Team Needs
We are looking for:
• Students eager to learn system dynamics modeling from the ground up.
• Individuals interested in livestock systems, economics, or sustainability.
• Team members who enjoy writing, data interpretation, or literature synthesis.
We especially encourage students who are:
• Willing to contribute regularly and attend weekly research meetings.
• Comfortable working collaboratively to refine equations, test scenarios, and document findings.
• Open to learning technical tools like Vensim.
If you want to gain real modeling and scientific writing experience, you’ll be a great fit. No prior coding or advanced math experience required.
Special Opportunities
Students who join this project will:
• Learn to build and analyze a real quantitative system dynamics model using Vensim.
• Gain skills in data collection, literature review, and parameter calibration across biological and economic domains.
• Be trained in scientific writing, with a focus on producing a co-authored manuscript suitable for journal submission.
• Present research at campus or national symposia.
• Explore how simulation tools can support strategic decision-making in agriculture, offering both productivity and resilience benefits.
• Have the chance to continue long-term with the research group, working on future modeling or publication projects.
This is a rare opportunity to explore systems thinking in agriculture, apply research to policy-relevant scenarios, and contribute to solutions for one of the most economically and environmentally sensitive stages of beef production.