A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 12, 1996 From the Department of Dairy and Animal Science This regular column from Penn State’s Department of Dairy and Ani mal Science features the research findings, student opportunities, and reports on other Important topics generated in the Department. Watch for notice when back issues of the column are archived on Lancaster Farming's Internet wwwJancaster farming.com home page. PENN STATE STUDENTS TOUR, LEARN ABOUT AGRIBUSINESS Introducing Penn State students to the many emerging career op portunities in the dairy, livestock, and poultry industries is an in creasing challenge. The Depart ment of Poultry Science and the Department of Dairy and Animal Science have found an unusual teaching tool: a 40-passenger ex cursion bus. The two departments sponsored the first Student/Faculty Industry Tour for 36 undergraduate and graduate students, featuring six farms and companies in southeast ern Pennsylvania that reflect the diversity and variety of occupa tions that exist m agriculture. A little money buys a lot of Action. USE CLASSIFIED ADS J NOW OPEN **** • Hardware * Aiiml Htillli p T •Plumbinj • Fencing £- / // • Ladders • FtrnSurplusjl » J FARM STORE ®aD® Q Qua?^e SS pA“ d 7566 ™ F Terry Etherton, head of the De partment of Dairy and Animal Science, says the unorthodox tour is the perfect way to let students see the many career opportunities open to them. "It's vitally important for stu dents to see the broad spectrum of options available in animal agri culture," he explains. "It can in fluence their decisions on a course of study. Students need to recog nize that jobs in animal agricul ture span the spectrum from the family farm to laboratory scien tists conducting molecular biol ogy research. On this bus tour, they saw several representative companies and farms in one trip, and could ask questions. It was a terrific real-world experience!" Incoming freshmen, students new to Penn State's University Park Campus (from other cam puses and other universities) and graduate students joined faculty chaperones on the two-day excur sion. The tour included stops at Leidy’s, Inc, a swine packing and processing business in Souderton; the Toxicology Department of Merck Research Laboratories, a pharmaceutical research firm near Philadelphia; egg-processing fa cilities at Kreider Poultry Farms in Manheim; and the 400-acre Hershey Brothers Dairy in Man heim. They also visited the 850-head capacity Nissley Brothers Beef Feedlot in Mount Joy and the Hanover Shoe Farms, Inc. of Hanover, a pre-eminent Standard bred horsebreeding facility for more than 60 years. "Agriculture is a huge industry with vast employment opportuni ties, and this tour provided stu dents with an overview of six di verse enterprises," explains Erskine Cash, professor of animal science and tour coordinator. "The tour enhanced their awareness of the industry and encouraged in formal interactions with students and faculty." For Tiffany Turrentine, a first year student from Philadelphia now studying at Penn State Berks, the tour allowed her to see first With the Absolute Best Farm Equipment Deals Now Available From Gehl! Choose From Great Finance Round Balers** Disc Conditioners Mixer Feeders Mix-All® Grinder Mixers Manure Spreaders 0% fir 12 r 24 mtm 9.9% frßmtto 1.9% lir 41 mtfts Waiver of Finance Charges* Until December 1,1999 Settlement Bonus Forage Harvesters* $ 1300 - 2000 Round Balers** $lOOO Manure Spreaders $ 200 -1000 Feedmaking Equipment $4OO-2000 Mower Conditioners $ 500 - 2000 Skid Loaders $ 500 -1500 eat Ike Bank. Forage Harvesters* 0% fir 12 Mtlß 21% hr24lHtfes 3.9% fir B MOB 4.9% fir 41 mils 5.9% (rßmtls Plus 25% of Settlement Bonus OR OR hand many of the systems and processes described in her high school textbooks. "I was really interested in the places that we went to, like the Merck Labs," she relates. "Some of the lab work that they showed us I had learned about in high school, and it's what 1 want to study in college. Merck is looking for Penn State students for full time employment, and if I hadnft participated in the tour, I would never have learned that." As a native of Edmonton, Can ada, doctoral candidate Paul Kononoff got an extra benefit from the tour: as he was discover ing the state's animal science in dustries, he also was getting his first look at much of the land scape. "It's definitely a lot more roll ing than the Canadian prairies that I'm used to," he says. "The trees and mountains are quite lovely, and the farms are more pictur esque. Where I'm from, there are lots of beef cattle - it's not un usual to see 10,000 head on a fa cility -- but the dairy operations are smaller. Here, it's flip-flopped: feedlots may only be 100-200 head, but the dairy operations are ten-fold what I'm used to." Kononoff says he was im pressed by the enthusiasm and in novation that he encountered on the tour, and came away with a nCRIKPWURIUIIMTIiYM Contact your Gehl dealer for complete details and ask about low rates on other Gehl products. 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I also got a better understanding of the needs of tie farmers from the perspective of a researcher. I'm not familiar with the way that agriculture is dot* here, and I now see that 1 call bring expertise and fresh ideas from a different part of the world and blend them with what I'm learning here." Etherton says that the two cfc. partments plan to make the tour an annual event, visiting facilities in every part of the state on a ro tating basis. The tour was sum ported by grants from PennAg W dustries, the Pennsylvania Bel Council, the Pennsylvania Call tlemen’s Association, Turkey Hiij Dairy, and the participating & partments. Penn State is committed to affir mative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce. Options Skid Loaders*** 1% Ilf 12 Hite 2,9% Iff 24 HlftS 4.9% fir n mtts 81% Iff 41 MttS 8.9% urn mtts Plus 25% of Settlement Bonus GEHL.
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