The National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded $ 14 million in research to protect agriculture animals from disease. Included in that is $500,000 for a three year project being conducted by Iowa State University Researchers. Dr. Jodi McGill says they’re working to protect cattle against stress and respiratory disease by using Vitamin A and Zinc supplements.

She says part of the challenge is helping animals fight off disease by supplying Vitamin A and Zinc.

McGill says there are two parts to their research project including how much Zinc and Vitamin A can they get to the diseased animal and secondly how best to supply that.

McGill says cattle are more prone to infections if they’re not getting the proper nutrition that they need and that’s a key part of their research.