UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The sprawling new Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) Livestock Evaluation Center on Route 45 just east of the Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs is a one-of-a-kind facility with deep historical roots at Penn State.

From 1966 until the new $6.5 million complex was completed this year, PDA's livestock evaluation program was housed in a building off Fox Hollow Road adjacent to the Ag Arena on the University Park campus. For nearly 40 years, the state and the university have collaborated to test meat animal performance and improve the genetic makeup of meat animals in Pennsylvania and the Northeast.

What makes the program and the facility special is that sires of four different kinds of meat animals are evaluated there -- beef cattle bulls, swine boars, ram sheep and buck goats. "This facility is absolutely unique," says Glenn Eberly, an adjunct instructor of dairy and animal science who has managed the center for PDA for the past 20 years. "This is the only facility in the world where testing of four meat animal species is carried out.

"We are in the business of improving the genetics of our meat animals in Pennsylvania and the Northeast," he adds. "Private owners consign animals to us and we raise them all the same way, removing all environmental factors that could affect their development, so we can accurately and objectively evaluate their growth, feed efficiency and carcass qualities."

Owners of animals judged to be genetically superior can sell them to other producers, or put them back into their herds to enrich the gene pool. "If sires are judged to be high performance, it makes the animals more valuable on the market," says Eberly. "Poor performing animals are returned to the breeder. Only the best performing sires are sold to the public." The 117,000-square-foot evaluation center contains a sales arena with seating for 700 people, a conference room that seats 100, a food service area, a self-contained hog unit, a large display barn, an isolation barn/sick pen area and pens for cattle, sheep, and goats.

"The new building has allowed us to expand on what we were able to do at the old facility," says John Comerford, chairman of the livestock evaluation center's beef technical committee and an associate professor of dairy and animal science who has been involved with the program for 17 years. "The center plays an important role in showcasing cattle. A lot of producers will tell you, for every tested bull they sell, they will sell three more as a result of the exposure their farm gets from participating in the program. The program has met with a lot of success in putting genetics back into herds, while allowing producers to compare their cattle genetics to others."

The livestock center's annual bull sales -- held the last few years on the last Friday in March in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Beef Expo -- draw big crowds. "We haven't had one in the new facility yet," says Comerford. "But we drew about 1,000 people last year, so I expect we'll easily fill the sale arena this year."

Nearly four decades ago the livestock evaluation program was started by people who believed significant improvements could and should be made in the state's meat animal gene pool, Eberly points out. "This was a group of people who had a vision for something they could do to benefit the agricultural community in this state and the Northeast," he explains. "They developed a way to assist the livestock industry in improving genetic makeup of animals.

"When the program first started, it was a shared responsibility. Initially, the university provided the expertise and county extension agents picked the animals that were brought in. Clerical support, groundskeeping and other services were provided by Penn State. As budgets got tighter, it evolved into a PDA program. But dairy and animal science faculty members still provide consultation, oversight and collaboration."

The technical committee that Comerford chairs oversees the standards and rules governing what animals will be accepted, schedules and feed rations. "There always has been a partnership between PDA and the university on making decisions about livestock evaluation," he said. "As budgets have become more austere at Penn State, PDA has taken over entirely the operation of the facility, but we work together on the procedural things and support each other." Comerford noted that the program will include new features soon. "In 2004, we will have a steer test," he says. "Owners of steers will be able to consign them to a feeding trial at the center. And we are planning embryo transfer and heifer development programs as well."

The livestock evaluation program has resulted in significant improvements in the genetic makeup of Pennsylvania meat animals, according to Ken Kephart, professor of animal science, who is chairman of the center's swine technical committee. "Because the best performing animals are sold to the public," he says, "they pass on their genes to their progeny and the effect of the program over decades has been obvious. The program has long been a way for commercial producers to improve the genetic quality of their herds."

Eberly says the impact of the program in the last 15 to 20 years has been "nothing short of tremendous. Mankind has been practicing animal husbandry for thousands of years, but we have improved the genetics of meat animals, increasing specific performance factors by 20 percent or so, in less than two decades."

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EDITORS: Contact Glenn Eberly at 814-238-2527 or John Comerford at 814-863-3661.

Contact:

Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-863-9877 fax #299