THE PRODUCTION OF CATTLE IS A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY WITHIN THE U.S., WHERE NUTRITIONAL AND REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY IN THE PRODUCTION OF MEAT ANIMALS ARE KEY ATTRIBUTES IN SUSTAINING PROFITABILITY. THE ROOT OF SUSTAINING MEAT PRODUCTION IS ENSURING AN EFFICIENT COW HERD, YET QUESTIONS STILL REMAIN ABOUT HOW COW SIZE, REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS, AND NUTRIENT UTILIZATION MAY IMPLICATE LONG-TERM SUCCESS IN THE COW HERD. THEREFORE, THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY IS TO IDENTIFY REGIONS OF THE CATTLE GENOME RELATED TO MEASURABLE NUTRITION AND REPRODUCTIVE TRAITS AT EARLY STAGES OF LIFE IN A COMMERCIAL COW HERD. THE HYPOTHESIS AND EXPECTATION IS THAT SPECIFIC MARKERS CAN BE IDENIFIED TO IMPROVE SELECTION ACCURACY BY PRODUCERS FOR SUSTAINING MEAT PRODUCTION AND PROFITABILITY. FURTHERMORE, RESULTS FROM THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TRAITS COLLECTED EARLY IN LIFE RELATE TO THE SAME TRAITS AS MATURE COWS. THEREFORE, THE ANTICIPATED IMPACT IS AN INCREASED UNDERSTANDING AND BODY OF KNOWLDGE FOR NUTRITIONAL AND REPRODUCTIVETRAITS THAT YIELD COWS WITH INCREASED EFFICIENCY TO IMPROVEPRODUCER SELECTION DECISIONS.