Heartland Beef Alliance tours U of I Beef Research Farm

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[April 04, 2018]    On March 13th, a group of HBA members visited the University of Illinois Beef Research Farm and Veterinary College in Champaign-Urbana.

Both tours were very informative. The University has 3 Research Centers: the Beef Research Farm, located 5 miles south of the UIUC Campus; the Orr Agricultural Research Center in Pike County; and Dixon Springs Agricultural Center. All calves end up coming to Champaign to finish out.

The Beef Research Farm in Champaign has both pasture land and feedlots for more intensive research. They raise 150 head of cattle: Angus, Simmental, and Sim-Angus. They also have 50 head of sheep. The Research Farm provides Animal Science students hands-on experience.

Their feedlots pens use GrowSafe technology to monitor daily intake of feed and water for each head of cattle. New baby calves as well as older cows and calves are monitored in other barns.

In the afternoon, we toured the Veterinary College with the help of a Sophomore Vet student. She is one of 140 students in her class studying to be a future Vet in a mixed animal clinic. The Veterinary College/Hospital has two wings – Large Animal Clinic and Small Animal Clinic.

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The Large Animal Clinic was working on several horses and one cow during our tour; the Small Animal side had dogs and cats. Each Clinic has X-rays CTI scans, MRI units and other advanced equipment to fit large and small animals. We looked through the Surgical Room window on the Small Animal side to see a surgery in action and saw many other classrooms, pharmacies, and aspects of the college.

These tours were just a couple of the many tours taken by Heartland Beef Alliance over the past year. We’ve experienced and learned a lot, had lots of fun, and become more aware of our Beef Industry.

[Diane Lindgren, Secretary/Treasurer
Heartland Beef Alliance]

The Heartland Beef Allaince is made up opf members from Logan, Mason and Tazewell Counties whose mission is to promote family and youth livestock activities. 

 

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