A G Agricultural Business, Education, and Communications R E Animal Science Environmental Plant Science and Natural V Resources I E W Volume 29 Spring 2011 Dr. Elliott Reflects on Change and Growth To the thousands of alumni and attendance. Senator Bond and our present teaching and laboratory facilities exist for friends who have participated with the Senator Blunt as well as Congresswomen each unit. many activities in agriculture at SMS/MSU Emerson, whose district includes our Internship learning experiences occur over the decades, I want to relay thanks Mountain Grove Campus and the at the State Fruit Experiment Station and for the essential role you played in making Journagan Ranch, have been extremely the Journagan Ranch. A newly remodeled the agriculture unit worthy of the present important to the School of Agriculture over $200,000 dormitory allows students to be designation of being the William H. Darr the decades. They each have contributed by housed at our campus in Mountain Grove School of Agriculture. It is only a small speaking to classes, participating in events while working on the Ranch or the State indicator of the meaning of this change and supporting grants that have been key Fruit Experiment Station. with graduates marching as a unit this to research and teaching. The equipment Without the participation of our alumni spring in the JQH Arena to receive their purchased with grants this past year include and friends, we could not have the present diplomas. Historically, agriculture has been the biotechnology laboratory equipment program. Your successes legitimize us to a part of the College of Science, the College supporting our grape genetics program, the administration and to the community. of Health and Applied Sciences, and most and trucks, trailers, and a van to transport The increased donations received during recently the College of Natural and Applied students and intern students. An additional these very difficult economic times have Sciences. This autonomy of a school allows U. S. Department of Education Grant made made the scholarship program, the AG the priorities and budgeting issues to move possible all the furnishings and technology Review and other promotions for our directly to the provost’s office allowing both equipment within the Christopher S. Bond student ambassadors possible. the College of the Sciences and the School Learning Center. The center will be a model There is a tremendous sense of joy and of Agriculture to express the potentials for delivering educational programs locally thankfulness in seeing completed facilities in their respective areas in a more direct and will tie into Missouri high school and successful programs for students, fashion while maintaining meaningful agricultural programs through our dual- but the real joy is seeing the returning cooperative efforts. credit program. alumni and friends with their families who The William H. Darr Agricultural The School of Agriculture strives demonstrate success in attaining fulfilling Center on Kansas Express is experiencing to continue to build upon the strong lives! Those of us in the Darr School of the completion of the final-planned phase undergraduate and graduate programs Agriculture are pleased to have participated of facilities with The Christopher S. Bond that we have organized into three units: in a small way during those growing years Learning Center, a 27,331 square-foot Animal Science; Plant Science and Natural of your lives. facility that will be officially dedicated Resources; and Agricultural Business, Anson Elliott, Director during a ceremony June 17 with Bond in Education and Communications. Excellent William H. Darr School of Agriculture School of Agriculture Identifies Three Units By Kerri Percival agricultural business; Cutright and Deal in Environmental Plant Science and The William H. Darr School of agricultural communications; and Bellis, Natural Resources unit faculty are Burton, Agriculture is organized into three Hutter, Wiggins, Fent and Grisham in Fuqua and Dewitt in natural resources; units which are Agricultural Business, agricultural education. Alsup-Egbers, Hwang, Kaps, Odneal, Education, and Communications; Animal Animal Science unit faculty are Pszczolkowski, Trewatha, Wilker, Wear and Science; and Environmental Plant Science Hudson, Schmitt, Walker, G. Webb, S. Padgett in environmental plant science; and Natural Resources. Webb, Salchow and Whittaker in animal Burton and Roling in wildlife conservation Agricultural Business, Education and science; G. Webb and S. Webb in equine management. Communications unit faculty are Onyango, science; and Schmitt in preprofessional For complete titles for school of Rimal, Smith, T. Elliott and Johnson in curriculum for pre-veterinary. agriculture faculty, please see page 34. 3 Video Cattle Sale is a Success Prop B Discussed at By Evan Kempker Ag Forum By Jennifer Cooper The first combined sale of Missouri Instead of live cattle going through the Energy issues, the budget deficit State University and Journagan Ranch was ring, the sale ring consisted of three large and Proposition B were the main topics a huge success with the sale averaging over LCD TVs on which a video of each lot discussed by government officials, local $3,300 per head. This year’s sale also had a was shown during the sale. Marty Lueck, business leaders, farmers and students new format utilizing video. Journagan Ranch manager, said “the at the annual Missouri State University sale was a little Collegiate Farm Bureau Agriculture Forum different from past April 15. sales, but it was This year’s forum was the 12th year for received very well.” the event which was held at the Knights Next year’s of Columbus Hall in Springfield with sale will be in the approximately 130 people attending. same format as this U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and the President year’s. It will be of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation Oct. 8, 2011, at the Blake Hurst were the keynote speakers. Darr Agricultural Center on Kansas Expressway, Springfield, Mo. Beef Cattle Nutrition Research Underway By Brett Littleton Missouri State University students, and fall semesters enrolled in AGS492-beef faculty and a local vet are opening a window cattle nutrition research. to the world of a bovine’s rumen. “This class is directed toward students Keynote speaker Blake Hurst discusses During spring semester, four Hereford interested in gaining experience in beef Prop B at the Ag Forum in Springfield. steers from the Journagan Ranch were cattle nutrition, and will provide an fitted with a rubber plug called a cannulae. opportunity to apply knowledge gained in Prop B was this years state topic which Fistulation surgeries were performed by the classroom to real world scenarios and was addressed by Blake Hurst. cutting a hole in the side of the animal research techniques,” Hudson said. The Master of Ceremonies was Lewis and attaching the rumen to the cannulae. Miller from KWTO, a Springfield radio This procedure externalizes the rumen and station. allows access to monitor digestion. Dr. Anson Elliott, director of the The nutrition study being conducted William H. Darr School of Agriculture said at the Darr Agricultural Center will evaluate next years meeting will be held at the new efficiency of distillers grains through four Agricultural Learning Center located at the experimental periods scheduled for June Darr Agricultural Center. The building is through October. scheduled to be open this summer or fall. Dr. Mellissa Hudson, assistant Elliott said he hopes that the new facility One of the Hereford steers was fitted with professor of animal science, will utilize the a cannulae to allow access to the rumen in will expand interests in the agricultural steers to teach students during summer order to study and monitor digestion. community and increase forum attendance. 4 Missouri State Student Travels to Scotland By Samantha Sellers Summer 2010 Cheyenne Shipps, situation. I learned that people outside of a junior animal science major from the United States are not that different from Dadeville, Mo., explored Scotland and us and the cultures have many similarities. attended equine classes at Oatridge I had many experiences with different types College in Ecclesmachan, Broxburn, West and aspects of the horse industry that I Lothian, Scotland. Oatridge is a land-based brought back with me and can apply to our agricultural college that during the summer industry.” was used as an equine school. Shipps offered a little advice for those Shipps spent six weeks exploring the who are considering studying abroad. country and enjoying the Scottish culture “First off, do it! It is an amazing while learning about the Scotland equine experience and you learn a lot about industry. While at Oatridge College, Shipps yourself. Also, enjoy every minute of it took two courses – equine fitness, and because it is over before you know it. Go equine anatomy and physiology. She also somewhere you feel comfortable and will learned how to ride English. thoroughly enjoy. It will be an experience “I learned a lot about myself,” Shipps of a lifetime,” Shipps said. said. “And, I realized anything is possible if I can travel around the world all by During a trip to Scotland, Cheyenne myself, not knowing anyone going into the Shipps learned about the Scottish culture. Journagan Ranch is Utilized for Research and Internships By Ashley Winfrey Last year Missouri State University and 1,000 head of cattle, is now being Currently the ranch has one intern, received the second-largest single-private utilized as a student laboratory. Daniel Amick, second year animal science gift in its 104-year history. The gift of Leo Journagan and his family major from Nevada, Mo. Journagan Ranch, consisting of 3,300 acres presented Missouri State with an entire “Marty Lueck contains so much ranch. The ranch, located about 10 miles knowledge that it would be wasted if he south of the Mountain Grove Campus, wasn’t working with the university,” Amick provides for numerous opportunities, said.