Category Archives: Livestock

Livestock

The Livestock Industry in Delaware – Dan Severson

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The livestock industry in Delaware is much larger than I had previously viewed it, and I now understand the scale of the livestock industry thanks to Dan Severson’s guest lecture.

Many people, when they think of livestock they only think of the generic animals like cows, pigs, and poultry, but there are so many more animals that are utilized in to feed and nourish the masses. Some of the forgotten animals that makeup the livestock industry are goats, sheep, bees, bison, alpacas, rabbits, water buffalo, deer, and turkeys.

The dairy industry takes up a massive portion of the livestock industry. There are multiple aspects of the dairy industry which include fluid milk, ice cream, amish, conventional, and pasture. It is interesting to look at the dairy industry because there is a large dairy cow operation close to my house in Sussex County.

There are a lot of growing trends in the livestock industry including the urge for more “natural” farming, such as farm to table, buy local eat local, grass fed, and organic.

Technology has advanced so much in recent years in the realm of livestock. New tech such as robotics, GMO’s, and investment in the livestock department have led to major improvements in the environmental impacts of farms, as well as an increase in the well-being of the animals.

While I personally don’t consume any livestock or products from livestock, I have no problem with those who choose to have it in their life. People have been consuming meat since humans began their existence here on earth, and can be a part of a healthy lifestyle.

 

Equine/Horse, Livestock

University of Delaware Newark Research Farm

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Dairy Cattle – Newark DE

Farm Superintendent, Scott Hopkins gave a tour of the UD farm as our last field trip. The farm consists of a portion of land dedicated to organic farming, horses, sheep, 25 beef cattle, and 85 dairy cattle.

The UD organic farm where the Fresh 2 You gardens and high tunnels are.  This garden provides produce to restaurants and the University. We then moved to see the milking parlor. This was an interesting time because I know very little about dairy operations, I was amazed at how much technology goes into the process. The machines are capable of testing different qualities of the milk to ensure that the product is of good quality. In the dairy barn, we learned about how UD professors can conduct research on dairy nutrition and how diets can impact milk production. At the Webb farm, we learned of the equine production, sheep barn, and beef cattle.  He explained some research projects going on at the farm. To me, the most interesting was the rice plots – arsenic trials.

Agriculture Careers, Agritourism, Equine/Horse, Field Trips-Tours, Livestock, Photos & Scenery

UD Farm Tour Fieldtrip

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Our last field trip was close to home, the UD Farm tour! We spent the day learning about what the University of Delaware had to offer its students and community. Scott Hopkins, the farm superintendent, guided us on our last tour. Although I have been on the farm many times before, I learned many new and valuable things that we’re doing at UD. I never knew that we were growing hops and rice patties, so that was an interesting fun fact to learn. We toured both the main farm and Webb farm, with the day ending at UDairy Creamery.

My favorite part of the day was when we got to enjoy our ice cream while watching our classmate put on a fiddling concert. Max nailed the performance and it was a great way to wrap up our final field trip together. Overall, our forth field trip was very educational and a lot of fun!

Field Trips-Tours, Livestock, Photos & Scenery

My 4th tour of UD’s farm

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One of the big bonuses of helping Mark Isaacs with Understanding Today’s Agriculture is accompanying the class on the tours.  I always absorb something new, and on this cold and blustery Saturday, learned that Farm Superintendent Scott Hopkins is responsible for planting all the trees that line the gravel road approaching the livestock portion of the farm. Scott incorporates beauty and function Into everything he does—a terrific example of establishing balance on a working, teaching farm.

This fourth trip ended with a special treat — the musical talents of first year student Max Huhn, who has been playing for 12 years. As an aspiring guitarist and mandolinist myself, I appreciated his command of the fiddle, and his passion for traditional Irish and Bluegrass music. After a morning of encroaching winter weather and a delicious dose of UDairy Creamery (thank you Mark) our hearts and bodies were warmed! Dr. Limin Kung was on hand to open up the Commons where Max took center stage! He treated the class to a half hour concert, and a segment of that performance provides the soundtrack to this short recap of our tour.   I could have listened to Max all day! Max opens with his own original composition, “Ghost Cow” and transitions into a traditional Irish tune entitled “Tam Lin.”  Enjoy!

Ag Business, Agriculture Careers, Commercial Production, Issues and Controversies, Livestock, Precision Ag, Production Agriculture, Vegetables

Building Sustainable Agriculture

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Tuesday November 13th, Bill Cowser and Bill Northey came to the UD STAR Campus to discuss biofuels and modern agriculture. All majors were welcome to this hearing and as a bonus at the end there was free UDairy ice cream! On Bill Cowser’s farm he raises beef cattle and grows soybeans and corn. He mentioned that every third row of corn goes to produce ethanol. In Iowa, 39% of its corn crops is used for ethanol. Cowser also mentioned the three commodities that come from a corn field: stalk/corn, feed, and bedding. One thing that I thought was kind of funny was what Cowser calls “The Chase.” The Chase is one thing that he needs/ wants to control the most but is unable too. He would like to control the weather but it’s impossible. He even said that he knows he can’t be he’s going to try. This past summer Iowa got a lot of rain. More than Delaware which destroyed some of the crops there.

Both men talked about the main goals of the agricultural industry. For instance, farmers want renewable, sustainable, environmental friendly, and profitable products. If it’s not profitable then that’s a huge lost right there because no one will be able to afford it and therefore, no one would buy the product. They also talked about the VTA or the Vegetative Treatment Area. What this is, is an area of perennial vegetation, like grass or forage. It is used to treat runoff from either a barnyard or a feedlot by settling, infiltration, and nutrient use. And when the runoff has settled into the soil, natural processes allow plants to use those nutrients. To me, this presentation was really interesting to hear. Even though it went over most of the topics we covered in class there was more to learn from it which is pretty cool. It’s also nice to get an insight view of the production from a different area.

Agriculture Careers, Equine/Horse, Field Trips-Tours, Livestock, Production Agriculture

UD Farm Tour – Scott Hopkins

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On Saturday November 10th our class toured the Newark Farm on our very own University of Delaware’s campus. Although I was not able to attend I am decently familiar with the campus farm. The UD farm was one of the first things I toured at the University of Delaware. I was immediately impressed by all the different aspects of the farm and the amount of research that they are able to conduct.

One of the main facilities I am pretty familiar with is the milking parlor. It was really cool to see that operation and how they use the milk for UDairy. This is a prime example of how UD is trying to connect the consumers to the product they are buying. This is a big trend for consumers and it is a great marketing technique for UDairy and UD’s dairy. I also am familiar with UD’s dairy because I have had to work a milking shift through one of my classes freshman year. It was good seeing how they take sanitary precautions while milking and also with sick cows. The dairy also has a great basis for research in the dairy industry from feed analysis, exploring the rudiment stomach of the cows, and many other aspects.

Besides the dairy, there is Webb Farm which has sheep, horses, and steers. I have been there before for other classes and it was cool to see how they are putting in place different management methods, like pasture rotation. Also, I know many classes have labs that give the ability for students to get hands on experience with these animals, something that is so crucial in the learning process. In addition, the apiary is a pretty cool aspect of the farm. Bees have had quite the presence on social media due to their importance to our food supply so seeing how UD is doing their part in research and production of bees is awesome. Overall, I think the UD farm is something that makes this university so unique because of all the different research aspects and experience students can gain through it.

Ag Business, Equine/Horse, Equipment & Engineering, Field Trips-Tours, Livestock

UD Farm Final Field Trip

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This past Saturday we had our final field trip which was located here at the UD farm and hosted by the farm superintendent Scott Hopkins. Even though it was a little cold and the wind was blowing it was still a nice day. Being a Pre-Vet major, I’ve had a couple classes on the farm such as the ANFS 111 lab and Organic and Sustainable Farming so I knew most about the farm but it stills amazes me that every time I step foot on it there’s always something learn. For example, last year I volunteered to help Larry Armstrong the Webb Farm Manager in vaccinating the ewe’s and help with the ultrasounds The farm is consisted of over 350 acres of land which is home to different types of animals such as Black Angus beef cattle, Holstein dairy cattle that get milked twice a day, Dorset sheep (which is my favorite), several varieties of chickens, bees, and seven horses. And even a field with hops for beer! On most Fridays there is a tent set up by the organic green houses that sells fresh produce to everyone including students plus the UDairy Creamery where you can buy more than just ice cream.

My favorite part about the farm is how hands on it is. Like during the ANFS 111 lab we get the opportunity to milk the cattle, trim the sheep’s hooves and have the ability to interact with the horses. The day of the field trip, Black Angus beef cows were loud but that was because they were separated from their young who are being weaned off the milk. The best part I like is that UD doesn’t just interact with itself. They have partnerships with other universities such as Rutgers (New Brunswick). For instance, when the dairy cows give birth UD keeps the bull calf for so long and then they ship them to Rutgers for research. UD and Rutgers share the cattle more or less to say which is pretty cool. There is so many career and research opportunities on the farm. If you talk to the right people you are able to be put on a wait list to be able to work with the animals although it is hard to schedule a break time within your normal class schedule to work on the farm but its most definitely worth trying. Also a huge thank you to Dr. Isaacs for treating everyone to ice cream and to Max as well for putting a performance on playing his fiddle!

Field Trips-Tours, Livestock

The UD Farm Experience

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Before coming to the University of Delaware one of the major things I have always heard about was the farm on campus, so I was beyond thrilled to get to see it on my tour before I chose this school. In not being able to see it while on tour I briefly rode by it while I was leaving, but I had no idea I had only seen 5% of what it had to offer. In having the ability to ride through and walk across the farm may seem like something simple to most students in the agriculture field, but it was something brand new and eye opening to me. In getting to walk through each building and see each different department was something I never thought I would get to see the ins and outs of. In going to the dairy part of the farm first, I was extremely honored and proud of how clean and organized everything was, and I experienced this in each new section of the farm. Every pasture or barn was neatly cleaned and cared for and exemplified how much the people in this field care about what they do. Getting to learn about the body language of the holstein cattle, how horses can stop their own contractions if they feel threatened, and the bellows of the beef cattle when being weaned away from their young were all new eye opening facts I otherwise wouldn’t have known about. My favorite part of the tour however, was getting to see all of the sheep. Growing up around the livestock industry in Delaware, I was more custom to seeing horses and cows, but sheep was a new territory. Learning about the rules put in place to allow sheep to give birth on their own and the process of selecting the best ones to keep and breed on the farm was something brand new to me, and I really enjoyed being in that environment. Overall, this was my most influential field trip because it hit the closest to home, not to mention the amazing UDairy ice cream and the wonderful fiddle entertainment by my fellow classmate Max afterwards, I was really impressed!

 

Equine/Horse, Field Trips-Tours, Livestock

UD Farm Tour

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We had an awesome opportunity to get an in-depth tour of the Newark farm on November 10th.  While I have had class on parts of the farm in the past, I hadn’t had the chance until now to see every part of the farm.  Learning about the various projects going on was super cool, like the apiaries and rice patties. We also got to tour the insides of the dairy facilities and learn all about how the cows are trained to just walk into the parlor when milking time rolls around, and how tedious and time consuming it can be to care for them.  Our tour guide Scott Hopkins, the farm superintendent, was full of so much knowledge and information, I didn’t lose focus once listening to him talk about the farm and his passion for it. He had a particular passion for the horses, and he showed us the horse barn and the different tools within it, such as the teasing wall, as well as the small indoor arena that I didn’t know existed. I was also amazed to learn that horses can stop contractions during labor if they feel threatened.  As a whole, the tour was super fun and interesting, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn as much as I did.

Agriculture Careers, Equine/Horse, Field Trips-Tours, Livestock, Poultry

UD Farm Tour

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Today on the UD farm was cold and windy but also a lot of fun! Scott Hopkins was so knowledgeable as the farm superintendent and very informative. The farm consists of an organic garden, 7 horses, 25 beef cattle, 85 dairy cattle, sheep and horses. Mr. Hopkins thinks that the dairy cattle are the most challenging to care for because the dairy cattle get milked twice a day which requires a lot of labor and the dairy cattle require a lot of different equipment. The farm provides food products to restaurants and to UD students through ice cream, produce stands, and star campus.

It was cool to see parts of the farm that I usually don’t get to see as a plant science major. I always love seeing the dairy cows, though sadly the babies were warded off by all of the rain that we have had. The angus cows did not want us around and mooed very loudly. The sheep were also not happy that we were barging in on the cud chewing. There are so many careers on a research farm such as managers and superintendents and other workers that participate on the farm but also professors and graduate students who are conducting most of the research done on the farm. Overall, I had a great time today and I am sad that this was our last field trip.

As mentioned, the sheep were not happy to see us and crammed themselves as far as they could into the corner of their pen.
Livestock

Livestock industry in Delaware

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On October 22 our AGRI130  had Dan Severson come in and give a lecture on the livestock industry of Delaware. And how important livestock is to the state of Delaware. Dan talked about cows, sheep, pigs, goats and dairy with brief discussion on each animals info and what they are used for and what the income per year they are averaging.  From this the most surprising thing that I took away from the lecture was when he began to talk about how the dairy industry is just plummeting. And giving my fellow class mates the idea what dairy farmers are dealing with an what they have to do to over come there  circumstances. Also what I took away from his lecture was how many other livestock animals there are in Delaware.

Ag Business, Livestock

Dan Severson on Livestock

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Dan Severson spoke to the class about the livestock industry in Delaware. He touched on something I found very important, the business part of the industry and how family farms will often create an LLC or corporation to protect their personal assets. He also went over the main historical events that contributed to agriculture today.

In terms of meat consumption, beef, pork, and poultry are the top three consumed. These are followed by lamb, veal, and goat. Something surprising to me is the consumption of goat meat in the US. I would have expected it to be a lot lower.  I thought it was interesting how diverse the beef farmers are in Delaware. Many people raise beef for more local markets, and they are small producers. We have a lot of direct market beef. Feed lots are typically more out west in the US.

Comparing how much we spend on food in the US to other countries is also surprising for many people. He gave the example of Russia spending about 30% of their income on food versus the US spending 11% total. Also, he made the point about how fortunate we are to have such diverse options year round.

Equine/Horse, Livestock

Horse Racing Industry – Mark Davis

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Growing up I always loved horses. When I was young my cousin brought my brother and I to Delaware Park and I was just fascinated to watch the races. I knew there was a lot more to the horse racing industry than what people talked about or knew but listening to Mark Davis was interesting. He started out by giving a brief overview of the industry such as William DuPont Jr. designed Delaware Park. He also told us about lower Delaware and during the late 1960s Harrington raceway and Dover Downs was built. Thoroughbreds race about 80 days a year while the harness racing has 180 days. I knew that before and after a race both the horses and the jockeys get series of drug tests to see if they had extra boosters in their system to help them perform better like EPO. There are approximately 23 EPO testing that can be done but the horses only get tested on three. There are also several people involved within the industry such as judges, investigators (people who are retired state troopers), veterinarians, breathalyzer techs, and etc., each with their own unique jobs. What I didn’t know was that in harness racing you need to have a license. These people consist of owners, trainers, drivers, groomers, vendors and track employees.

Livestock

The Livestock Industry with Dan Severson

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Dan Severson’s guest lecture on the livestock industry was right up my alley.  Growing up showing market animals in 4-H, I knew a lot of the information he gave us, and had the opportunity to build upon my prior knowledge with some new facts he shared.  Severson shared data on beef, hogs, sheep, goats, and dairy, and of course touched on poultry. For each species, he talked about the different kinds of productions. For example, for beef there are cow/calf productions, feedlots, show/genetic breeders, and more.  He also explained that even the smallest productions can be considered farms, as long as they sell $1,000 of farm products a year. That was something I was previously unaware of and definitely surprised to learn. Having focused most of my years in 4-H on market sheep, I knew pretty much all of the facts he shared about them, as well as the goats.  I was also aware of the huge catastrophe that is the dairy industry, and it always makes me sad to hear about it, having known many dairy farmers personally that have been forced to sell their farms and animals. I was absolutely shocked to learn that there are only 28 dairy farms in Delaware. Despite it being a small state, it had surprisingly large numbers for most of the other industries with the exception of dairy.  All in all, Severson’s lecture on livestock was definitely right up my alley and I enjoyed listening to him come in and speak.

Livestock, Topics for Discussion

Dan Severson and GMO crops

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After Dan Severson’s guest lecture on the Livestock Industry in Delaware, he wanted us to find out how many crops are made with GMO’s. I find out that there are actually ten crops that are grown with GMO’s. The ten crops are alfalfa, apples, canola, corn (field and sweet), cotton, papaya, potatoes, soybeans, squash and sugar beets. Honestly, I didn’t know this was possible but am glad I do now. I will think more about the crops I will possibly buy the next time I go to a supermarket or farmers market.