BYU-Idaho’s new Agricultural Science Center opens
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REXBURG — Brigham Young University’s recently rebuilt Agricultural Science Center means more space, more hands-on experience and more learning for students.
The center sits on 140 acres around five miles west of the BYU-Idaho campus. Its three new buildings are used for livestock handling, heifer development and feed transfer.
The public toured the center Thursday.
It was formerly known as the Livestock Center and was acquired by the school in 1978. In February of this year, Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the center, as well as the new Science and Technology Center and the Central Energy Facility.
“We really appreciate the new facilities we have,” said Steve Winkel, Animal and Food Science faculty and group leader for the food science professors on campus.
The Agricultural Science Center is used for conducting tests, handling the animals, artificial insemination, practicing veterinary care, meat processing and much more.
“Classes here, like the animal handling one — so it’s a little more hands-on with the animals — that’s one of my favorite classes right now,” said Janae Fain, a sophomore studying animal science. “We get to see how to interact with cows. Actually, the most amazing part is so much of it actually can transfer over to humans. My teacher shows us that. It’s the craziest thing, he’ll, actually, herd us.”
The center has an indoor arena, structures to house livestock and a variety of classrooms for instruction. The facilities allow students to gain hands-on experience in the field of animal science and agriculture.
Winkle said the newly constructed Science and Technology Center on the BYU-Idaho campus offers student’s access to new processing and analytical labs.
“You can focus your studies in either genetics, beef production, vet—animal health and a lot of different hands-on things,” said Veronica Jenkins, a junior studying animal science. “One of the things I really love about the professors here is that they try and really make sure that, even if they don’t have a lab connected to their class, try and get their students out here to have hands-on, applicable experiences. It’s really helped my learning.”