A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 23, 2003
PDA, Penn State
Unveil Facility
(Continued from Page A 1)
new Livestock Evaluation Center
was dedicated to Hayes Wednes
day afternoon, to a full house of
more than 700 at the facility near
the Ag Progress Days annual
event in Rockspring.
Steele said, “I couldn’t be more
pleased to have my friend’s
name, Sam, on this building.”
When Hayes spoke, receiving
two standing ovations, Hayes re
called the history of the construc
tion and the many associations
involved in its progress.
Visitors sign the guestbook to the new Samuel Hayes
Jr. Livestock Evaluation Center during Ag Progress Days.
Dr. Elizabeth Santini, veterinarian with the Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture, greets visitors during a tour of the new center on Tues
day.
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The livestock evaluation center
replaces the old and outdated
Pennsylvania Meat Animal Eval
uation Center on Fox Hollow
Road in State College.
Hayes said the first facility,
with a capacity of 17,497 square
feet, was “not a 21st Century fa
cility.
“For the livestock industry to
be profitable, to get those cuts of
meat from the animals on test,
we needed something other than
the one livestock evaluation cen
ter we had.”
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Visitors to the new livestock evaluation center examine a holding area for livestock.
All photos by Andy Andrews, editor
the new center, with an address
in Pennsylvania Furnace, was not
just some idea “concocted by the
Pennsylvania Department of Ag
riculture” (PDA) at a cost of $6.4
million. Though the new facility
measures more than 178,000
square feet, about 10 times the
capacity of the old facility, the
design of the Samuel Hayes Live
stock Facility included the input
of Penn State and representatives
from the sheep, beef, hog, and
goat industries.
The design of the new facility
is all “21st century,” noted
Hayes. ”It is the biggest and best
livestock evaluation center in
America. It is 10 times larger and
10 times better in its.fuqctionali
ty.”
He spoke about a contractor’s
daughter, at 13 years of age, who
laid the last concrete by hand
representing the involvement of
the state’s youth at the basic
level. And when he spoke, there
was an edge in his voice, after
-thanking all the agencies and in
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dustry involved, about his love
for agriculture.
Joining him in the dedication
was Dennis Wolff, secretary of
agriculture. The Hayes facility,
noted Wolff, is all about “eco
nomic development, and is cen
tral to economic development in
Pennsylvania.”
Wolff said that it takes vision,
planning, funding, and imple
mentation,” congratulating
Hayes on his accomplishment.
Several representatives of the
various industries also spoke.
Annette Lovell, Paoli, spoke
about the recent Performance
Ram and Ewe Invitational Sale
on Aug. 2 at the site, which in
cluded a sale of 53 rams repre
senting seven breeds, and more
than 40 ewes. She said the Hayes
facility is something we can be
“really proud of.”
Joe McMullen, Wakefield, rep
resented the beef industry. He
congratulated the state’s Depart
ment of General Services and the
design team for coming up with a
A view of the huge livestock evaluation center.
place “that is animal friendly.”
Dave Reinecker, York Springs,
represented the swine industry,
who noted how honored he was
to be a part of the dedication.
During Ag Progress, visitors
were transported by bus all three
days to tour the new Livestock
Evaluation Center.
Dr. Elizabeth Santini, veteri
narian with the Pennsylvania De
partment of Agriculture, spoke
on Tuesday about the new facili
ty, measuring 178,000 square feet
at a cost to taxpayers of $6.5 mil
lion.
The facility will look into just
how good male livestock are ge
netically, she noted.
“How good are their genetics?”
she said. “Can they grow fast,
make muscle, and produce ba
bies?”
The facility will examine the
genetic traits of bulls, boars,
rams, and bucks. Each species
will be examined in their own
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(Turn to Page A2l)