Goals and Objectives

• to provide quality instruction to students in basic animal science and applied principles of equine production and management
• to help students develop skills for discovering, evaluating, and adapting scientific information and technology throughout their careers
• to enhance students’ abilities to communicate effectively
• to engage students in the application of scientific principles to problem-solving in a real-world setting.

Faculty

The Animal and Food Science Department offers a major in Animal Science (emphasis in Equine, Meat Animal or Veterinary Technology) as well as a major in Dairy Science. The faculty and staff consists of fourteen full-time members with specific expertise in various animal science disciplines including nutrition, reproduction, genetics, breeding, physiology, animal health, livestock management, and meat and dairy products. In addition, our faculty possesses a broad base of experience with all farm animal species. Two of the current faculty members have won the campus-wide “Distinguished Teacher of the Year” award.

Facilities

The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences maintains two laboratory teaching farms. Both the Mann Valley Farm and the Campus Farm are heavily used for course work by the Animal Science faculty. These farms include dairy, beef, swine, sheep, poultry, and equine enterprises. In addition, the Animal and Food Science Department operates an on-campus dairy manufacturing plant and a fully-equipped meat processing facility.

Career Opportunities

The major will prepare students for a variety of positions in animal agriculture. Some examples of entry-level jobs include:

• Agricultural journalist
• Animal health inspectors (Federal and State)
• Breed association representative
• Breed publication editor/assistant
• Breeding farm manager
• Cow/calf & feedlot manager
• Equine equipment sales and service
• Nutrition sales and consultation - Equine, Swine, BeefExtension or youth agent/specialist
• Farm or Stable manager
• Genetics company representative - Bull and Boar studs
• Horse trainer
• Livestock procurement
• Meat processing quality assurance technician
• Meat processing production line manager
• Pharmaceutical sales
• Public relations specialist
• Poultry flock manager
• Research assistant
• Riding instructor
• Swine herd manager
• USDA/State meat inspector or grader

Most of these positions offer significant and early opportunity for advancement. The demand for personnel is consistently high in all the above areas. In addition the Animal Science-Science Option prepares students for entry into either graduate school or veterinary college. Attainment of these advanced degrees offers numerous opportunities for rewarding careers such as university teaching, public or private research and development, private veterinary practice, and federal or state veterinary positions.