Day 7: Arkansas Tech

Written by:  Andi, Ariel, Abi, Khloe, Olivia

Today our group visited Arkansas Tech which is the number 1 regional public university. Arkansas Tech was originally founded as an agricultural school. Although they are not the Land Grant University they do offer many agricultural courses. 

We toured the campus with Presley and Sarah where we learned that they have 150 + clubs and organizations, 3 club sports, and multiple opportunities on campus for jobs. An example of an on campus job is tutoring and being a tour guide. The campus offers many career fairs to help students for a career that matches their major. It doesn't matter what your major is, you are still able to be involved in extracurricular activities like art, recreational activities and e-sports. 

We learned about their ambassador, Jerry IV, who is a bulldog. He helps bring school spirit to every event and it has been a tradition since the school opened. 

 

After our walking tour of the campus, we then went to the farm where Mr. Steve and Dr. Marsh showed us their swine facility. We learned that their operation is not based on biosecurity but based more on teaching. The biosecurity measures that we took to enter the facility was stepping into a powder that disinfected our shoes and prevented cross contamination. There were 3 different sections in the pig barn, one with the sows for breeding, one for farrowing, and the last for the nursery area. We first entered the sow barn where we learned that the oldest sow was 3 years old. They are bred at 6 months where after they are bred, they are kept in a gestation crate for 30 days where they are confirmed bred. Their gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks, 3 days (114 days). When they are ready to give birth they are moved to a farrowing crate. The piglets are kept with the sows for 4 weeks, then moved to the nursery area for 6 weeks. The piglets are sold as feeder pigs. 

  

The next stop was their Arkansas Farm Bureau Ag Education Lab. This shop contained multiple components of welding such as Virtual Reality and a simulation welder, as well as real welding booths and a plasma cutter. This shop was designed to help students on the Ag Systems path as well as the Ag Education path. We learned about the Arkansas "Girl Power" program where they visit an off campus site to learn about machine tech with other women. 

 

We walked into their greenhouse where we learned that when they were a smaller university they were able to supply food for all the students on campus from their own crops and animals raised at the farm. Today, the farm also supplies plants and harvested animals to local buyers. 

Mr. Steve took us to the beef cattle area where we learned about a canulated cow. This process is done when the animal is young so that nutritional information can be gathered throughout the animal's life span. Some of us were brave enough to put on a glove and reach inside to feel the digested food. We learned that this does not affect them negatively in their life in that they can still be bred and harvested. 

We had an all you can eat buffet lunch in the university cafeteria. We appreciate the sponsor of this meal.