Texas Tech University

Whitney L. Crossland, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Animal and Food Sciences

Phone: 806-834-7583
Room Number: AFS 215

Email: whitney.crossland@ttu.edu 
Website: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5538-0501
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Dr. Whitney Crossland

Whitney Crossland grew up in the Denton, Texas, where she was active in FFA and worked for her family’s Red Angus cattle operation. Crossland attended Tarleton State University and competed on the 2005 Meat Judging Team before she transferred to Texas A&M University again competing on the 2007 Meat Judging Team. Crossland earned her B.S. (2008) and M.S. degrees in Animal Science (2011) from Texas A&M University. Between her masters and doctoral program she was a an Ag Teacher and FFA advisor at Hereford Junior High School-Preparatory Academy in Hereford, Texas, and also a sales representative with Wapanucka, Oklahoma's Diamond G Animal Health providing pharmaceutical needs to local producers of southeastern Oklahoma. Crossland then attended Texas A&M University to complete her Ph.D. in Ruminant Nutrition (2018).

After obtaining her Ph.D. she joined the faculty at Texas Tech University as an Assistant Professor of Animal Nutrition. Her teaching responsibilities include undergraduate General Animal Science, Principles of Nutrition, and graduate Ruminant Nutrition and advising over 75 undergraduate and graduate students. Crossland also offers a summer course “Comparative Beef Production Tour” for both undergraduates and graduates to gain perspective and network in the beef industry.

Dr. Crossland’s research program centers on beef cattle health and nutrition, with a focus on improving animal performance and welfare through innovative management strategies including:
Alternative forages, land reclamation, and grazing technology
  • Emily K Brown, Whitney L Crossland, Aaron B Norris, Caitlyn Cooper-Norris, 116 Comprehensive comparison of alternative cool-season forages for the Texas high plains, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 103, Issue Supplement_2, June 2025, Page 44, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf170.054
  • Aviles, D.M., Cooper, C.E., Crossland, W.L., Jagadish, S.K. and Norris, A.B., 2025. Evaluation of herd instinct tags on cattle behavior in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas. Rangelands, 47(2), pp.128-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rala.2024.11.003
Protein supplementation and Nitrogen Recycling of beef cattle
  • Faith Harms, Emma Fukuda, Aaron B Norris, Ryan R Rathmann, Whitney L Crossland, 13 Effect of supplementation frequency of cottonseed meal to pre-pubertal heifers consuming low quality forage, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 103, Issue Supplement_2, June 2025, Pages 113–114, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf170.131
  • Connor R Kern, Whitney L Crossland, Aaron B Norris, Ryan R Rathmann, Jhones O Sarturi, 83 Effects of cottonseed meal supplementation on growth performance of heifers grazing mature summer forage, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 102, Issue Supplement_1, March 2024, Pages 28–29, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae019.032
  • Smith, W.B., Miller, M.D., Crossland, W.L., Callaway, T.R., Tedeschi, L.O. and Rouquette Jr, F.M., 2020. In vitro gas production including methane from bermudagrasses supplemented with dried distillers grains with solubles. Applied Animal Science, 36(2), pp.172-182. https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2019-01916
Health and stress management of beef calves, dairy calves, and horses
  • Jeanine H Fassbender, Whitney L Crossland, Jaci Brown, 49 Transdermal effects of melatonin on horses experiencing transport stress, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 103, Issue Supplement_2, June 2025, Pages 153–154, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf170.173
  • Martin, A.E., Machado, V.S., Rathmann, R.J. and Crossland, W.L., 2024. Effects of exogenous melatonin on the postweaning immune response and growth performance of crossbred beef calves. Applied Animal Science, 40(5), pp.598-607. https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2024-02555
  • Allie E Martin, Vinicius S Machado, Ryan J Rathmann, Whitney L Crossland, Effect of exogenous melatonin on the cellular response of Holstein heifer calves during vaccination, Translational Animal Science, Volume 8, 2024, txae028, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txae028
Targeted feed additives
  • Camron J Rush, Jhones O Sarturi, Nelson O Huerta-Leidenz, Dale R Woerner, Whitney L Crossland, Darren D Henry, Kaliu G S Silva, Alejandra M Lopez, The effects of a nutritional packet (live yeast, vitamins C and B1, and electrolytes) offered to steers in a calf-fed system on growth performance, nutrient digestion, feeding behavior, carcass characteristics, and ruminal variables, Translational Animal Science, Volume 7, Issue 1, 2023, txad073,    https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txad073
  • Miranda K Stotz, Darren D Henry, Whitney L Crossland, Evaluation of immunoglobulin-Y in place of tylosin phosphate in the diets fed to Holstein Steers and preliminary analysis of liver abscess duration on animal growth performance, Translational Animal Science, Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2021, txaa225, https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txaa225
  • Aaron B Norris, Whitney L Crossland, Luis O Tedeschi, Jamie L Foster, James P Muir, William E Pinchak, Mozart A Fonseca, Inclusion of quebracho tannin extract in a high-roughage cattle diet alters digestibility, nitrogen balance, and energy partitioning, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 98, Issue 3, March 2020, skaa047, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaa047
  • Whitney L Crossland, Jillian T Jobe, Flavio R B Ribeiro, Jason E Sawyer, Todd R Callaway, Luis O Tedeschi, Evaluation of active dried yeast in the diets of feedlot steers—I: Effects on feeding performance traits, the composition of growth, and carcass characteristics, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 97, Issue 3, March 2019, Pages 1335–1346, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skz007
  • Whitney Lynn Crossland, Aaron Bradley Norris, Luis Orlindo Tedeschi, Todd Ryan Callaway, Effects of active dry yeast on ruminal pH characteristics and energy partitioning of finishing steers under thermoneutral or heat-stressed environment, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 96, Issue 7, July 2018, Pages 2861–2876, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky165
  • W. L. Crossland, L. O. Tedeschi, T. R. Callaway, M. D. Miller, W. B. Smith, M. Cravey, Effects of rotating antibiotic and ionophore feed additives on volatile fatty acid production, potential for methane production, and microbial populations of steers consuming a moderate-forage diet, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 95, Issue 10, October 2017, Pages 4554–4567, https://doi.org/10.2527/jas2017.1665
Rumen and Liver health and microbiome
  • Cox, H.E., Menta, P.R., Nagaraja, T.G., Crossland, W.L., Hales, K.E., Henry, D.D., Strieder-Barboza, C., Broadway, P.R., Carroll, J.A., Ballou, M.A. and Machado, V.S., 2024. Injecting Fusobacterium necrophorum into the peripheral circulation or hepatic portal vein of preruminant Holstein calves failed to induce liver abscesses. Applied Animal Science, 40(3), pp.421-429. https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2023-02487
  • Wilson, R.A., Johnson, B.J., Sarturi, J.O., Crossland, W.L., Hales, K.E., Rathmann, R.J., Bratcher, C.L., Theurer, M.E., Amachawadi, R.G., Nagaraja, T.G. and Speidel, S.E., 2024. Identification of blood-based biomarkers for detection of liver abscesses in beef× dairy heifers. Applied Animal Science, 40(3), pp.386-397. DOI: 10.15232/aas.2023-02504
  • Miranda K Stotz, Darren D Henry, and Whitney L Crossland, Characterization of bacterial DNA identified in abscessed and non-abscessed bovine hepatic tissue at the time of harvest, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 99, Issue 10, October 2021, skab280, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skab280
  • Crossland WL, Shaw JP, O’Leary C, Gill J, Liu M. 2019. Complete Genome Sequence of Citrobacter freundii Siphophage Sazh. Microbiol Resour Announc 8:10.1128/mra.01317-19. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.01317-19
  • Whitney Lynn Crossland, Caitlyn M Cagle, Jason E Sawyer, Todd R Callaway, Luis Orlindo Tedeschi, Evaluation of active dried yeast in the diets of feedlot steers. II. Effects on rumen pH and liver health of feedlot steers, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 97, Issue 3, March 2019, Pages 1347 -1363, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skz008

Crossland is the faculty advisor for the Animal and Food Sciences Academic Quadrathlon Team, and TrUE Scholars undergraduate Research Program.

Animal & Food Sciences