Animal Science as Agriculture

1. Animal Science as Agriculture Brandon Bowman

2. Science is • the study or theoretical explanation of natural phenomena. • During this time of study we are investigating the laws of nature, her principles and reasons

3. Agriculture Oldest and most important of all sciences

4. Without an understanding of agriculture all humans would be struggling for survival

5. Most of our comforts come as a direct result of science. shelter food clothing

6. Early people ate fruits, nuts and other seeds. They were migratory hunters The idea of domestication came about and people began to settle down

7. People began to pay close attention to details and from these details drew conclusions on where to locate and harvest their food.

8. Progressive scientific research in the U.S. began in the mid 1800’s at universities. The universities were only teaching the “classics” such as Latin and Greek, History, Math and Philosophy

9. Soon they realized that they should include more practical hands on subject areas in their curriculum.

10. 1862 Senator Morrill from Vermont pushed for a bill through the U.S. Congress that would provide public land and funds for colleges that would teach practical methods of manufacturing and food production

11. The bill was signed by President Lincoln and the Land Grant or Morrill Act was passed into law.

12. 1862 A bill was passed which started the USDA United States Department of Agriculture

13. 1872 - Hatch Act With the growing interest in agriculture, the government decided to put the new ideas for agricultural practices to work.This act set up the Experiment Stations run by the universities

14. Hatch Act This act set up the Experiment Stations run by the universities

15. 1914 - Smith Lever Set up Cooperative Extension Service (Extension Agent, 4-H)

16. Land Grant System composed of universities, experiment stations, and cooperative extension service.

17. Land Grant System Universities conduct the research, methods tested at experiment stations, brought to public by extension.

18. 1917- Smith Hughes established funding for vocational agriculture education programs in high schools.

19. Scientific Method systematic method of gaining knowledge through experimentation assures that results did not occur just by chance and that something actually did cause the change.

20. The Scientific Method Recognize a Problem Develop a Hypothesis Do an experiment Collect the Data Analyze Data Draw a conclusion

21. and make a recommendation

22. Identify the problem to be solved an idea of the cause may already be present

23. form a hypothesis an educated guess this is a guess of what causes or might be causing the problem

24. conduct the experiment experiment should test the hypothesis

25. Two groups to every experiment control - is constant in everything except the thing being tested

26. experiment - contains everything that the control group does, but also contains the variable being tested

27. Two types of research basic - looks at why or how processes occur in animals applied - uses the discoveries made in basic research to help in a practical manner.

28. Where Search Has Led Us • Agriculture, beside medicine, is the application of almost all the research and knowledge associated with plants and animals

29. basic research • has benefited us the most by allowing us to produce high quality protein food very efficiently

30. Research • Here is a list of achievements accomplished since 1925 • better control of parasites and diseases and an end product that is higher is protein

31. productivity and efficiency • of all species has increasedbroilers are ready for market in 7.5 weeks after only 2lbs of feed and it used to take 4lbs of feed and 15 weeks

32. Research • The countries in North and Central America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand have only 29.9%of the worlds cattle yet produce nearly 68% of the worlds beef and veal

33. these are also the countries • in which nearly all of the scientific knowledge about the growing of these animals has been discovered

34. Milestones • That Revolutionized Agriculture • 1. Animal immunization • late 1800’s disease began to devastate all types of animals • Louis Pasteur developed first method of vaccinating animals to develop immunity (1870-80’s)

35. serum developed • to fight anthrax from the blood of sheep that had survived a bout with the disease

36. serum tested in two groups • group 1 - infected with the serum and later infected with anthrax

37. group 2: • infected with just anthraxgroup 1 lived and • group 2 died

38. Vaccines for other diseases • Using Pasteurs guidelines other scientists developed vaccines for other diseases

39. animals raised in • a disease free environment can be raised more efficiently and at a much lower cost

40. 2. Refrigeration • there was a huge need for meat preservation • meat would spoil quickly • in the winter meat would freeze solid until the spring

41. meat preservative methods • salt • drying • keeping meat in a cool steam

42. Problems • Problems with this was that meat was less palatable and these methods were very time consuming

43. today • we have freezers and refrigerators which utilize chemicals and compressors to condition the air and keep it cool

44. first attempt • of meat cooling was done with huge blocks of ice being hung from the ceilings of dark rooms

45. Refrigerated box cars • were developed a few years later

46. Artificial insemination • advancements in animals produced are achieved through the transfer of superior genes from parent to the offspring

47. A.I. Was developed • in the 1930’s and allowed for greater and more controllable transfer of genes from superior sires

48. A.I. Is widely available • this is most prevalent in dairy animals

49. 4. Embryo transfer • allows for genes of superior dams to be more widely used

50. combining ET and AI • allows producers to make rapid gains in the quality of their herds in short amounts of time at relatively low cost