Oklahoma

OSU Agriculture Launches Animal Excellence Initiative to Improve Livestock Health

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:00:11 GMT

Oklahoma State University is building on its long-standing tradition of leadership in animal agriculture with the launch of the OSU Agriculture Animal Excellence initiative, a comprehensive effort to elevate teaching, research and Extension programs that impact animal health.

OSU Creates Beef Center of Excellence

At the heart of this initiative is the creation of the Beef Center of Excellence, a cross-disciplinary hub designed to unite experts across the beef supply chain.

The Beef Center of Excellence will drive innovation through cutting-edge research, advanced Extension services and collaborative partnerships aimed at improving profitability and sustainability for beef producers today and in the future, said Robert Hodgen, president and CEO of King Ranch Inc. and a member of the Beef Center of Excellence advisory board.

“Creating the Beef Center of Excellence is a way to put a stake in the ground and say that Oklahoma State is going to be great at thinking about the broader cattle and beef industry,” Hodgen said. “By having this, we can attract even more great students from around the world, who want to focus on making a great-tasting product that’s nutritious for the consumer and grown in a sustainable manner.”

Supported by an advisory board, an executive director and endowed chairs in areas such as artificial intelligence, beef cattle economics, and rangeland ecology, the Beef Center of Excellence will fund impactful research and outreach.

Additionally, the Animal Excellence initiative includes facility and technology upgrades to modernize OSU’s animal teaching and research units.

OSU remains one of the few universities with operating units for all food animal species and is nationally recognized for the superior quality of livestock, teaching and research, all within proximity to OSU’s main campus.

“The animal units are a critical part of everything we do,” said Richard Coffey, head of the OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences. “The animal units so close to campus give us the opportunity to use them as a recruiting tool for real, hands-on teaching with our students. Part of the reason we get students from more than 40 different states across the U.S. is that they know they can come to OSU and participate in hands-on learning as part of their education.”

OSU Agriculture established the Animal Unit Endowment Fund to address critical infrastructure needs, advancing experiential learning and research capabilities to enhance human, animal and environmental health.

“We are at the point that a lot of our facilities are starting to show their age,” Coffey said. “We’ve completed some master planning to really think about what the next 20 to 30 years will look like for those units, not only to keep the locations where they’re at, but also to have modern facilities for our students. We’re looking to upgrade some of our facilities since they are at the end of their functional life.”

Oklahoma Pork Council Gifts Farm Improvements

Recently, the Oklahoma Pork Council made a generous gift to the OSU Swine Research and Education Center to support building improvements and ensure the long-term sustainability of this vital program.

The Oklahoma Pork Council Board of Directors values the work OSU does in swine production research and in providing hands-on learning experiences for students, said Kylee Deniz, executive director of the Oklahoma Pork Council.

“As a board representing the full spectrum of Oklahoma’s pork industry, from first-time 4-H exhibitors to our largest commercial producers, our mission is to support each segment,” Deniz said. “We believe the OSU Swine Research and Education Center is pivotal in equipping the university to lead the swine industry forward through cutting-edge research that can be applied directly on Oklahoma pig farms.”

Deniz said the Oklahoma Pork Council wants to help build the Swine Research and Education Center for the future, a facility that will not only support the industry through relevant, high-quality production research but also train and equip students to enter and excel in the pork industry workforce.

“OSU has the potential to serve as a hub for the pork industry and as a trusted resource for consumers who want to better understand how pigs are raised,” she said. “Through this investment, the benefits to the industry reach both sides of on-farm advancements while also building consumer confidence in how Oklahoma pork is produced.”

In addition to the Swine Research and Education Center, the Animal Unit Endowment Fund will provide support to maintain and enhance the student experience and research capabilities of the Charles and Linda Cline Equine Center, the Ferguson Family Dairy Center, the Sheep & Goat Center, the Purebred Beef Center and the Willard Sparks Beef Research Center.

For more information about supporting the Beef Center of Excellence and OSU’s animal teaching and research units, visit Animal Excellence online .

Oklahoma Initiatives to Address Rural Veterinary Issues

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 21:12:27 GMT

Over the past several years, Oklahoma legislative and agricultural industry leaders have invested in supporting the OSU CVM, its students, and graduates. During the 2023 session, the OSU Veterinary Medicine Authority (OSUVMA) was created through House Bill 2863 for the purposes of supporting the educational, research, and practice activities of the CVM. The OSUVMA secures long-term support for clinical faculty, student training, and the veterinary teaching hospital, similar to how the OSU Medical Authority and the University Hospitals Authority support the state’s medical schools.

Additionally, during the 2024 legislative session, House Bill 3196, the Dr. Lee Denney Act, was passed to provide financial support for students pursuing a veterinary medicine degree at OSU to practice in rural Oklahoma communities and receive training to meet the needs of livestock producers. Preference for awards will be given to those students who are focused on large animal veterinary medicine, who are Oklahoma residents, and who agree to serve in a community in Oklahoma which has a population not to exceed 25,000. HB 3196 also provides language for support of large animal veterinarians currently practicing in similarly sized communities.

Oklahoma State University is joining a new pilot program from Farm Journal Foundation (FJF) to support veterinary students and early career veterinary graduates in their professional development and address the national shortage of rural, food-supply veterinarians. The university is one of 10 schools participating in the Veterinary Workforce Solutions Program. The program supports veterinary students across a number of areas, including tackling student debt and financial planning, developing business management skills, and learning how to engage with rural communities. More information, including educational modules for undergraduates, veterinary students, and veterinarians can be found at www.ruralveterinaryworkforcesolutions.org .

The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry is also collaborating with the FJF to assess Oklahoma’s unique challenges, as well as mechanisms to support veterinarians, producers, and rural communities. Oklahoma is one of only three states participating in this initiative. Data collection is currently ongoing from veterinary and agricultural stakeholders. Information will be analyzed to develop measures to support the veterinary workforce and community readiness.

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Oklahoma Passes Bill Outlawing Misleading Meat Labeling

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 05:24:39 GMT

A bill has recently been signed into law in Oklahoma that will prohibit deceptive or misleading labeling of meat products, and in essence prevents cell cultured or plant based products from using meat terms.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 392 on April 26 after it had passed overwhelming in both the state House (93-0) and Senate (47-1). SB 392 was authored Senator Michael Bergstrom of Adair and was moved through to the House by Representative Toni Hasenbeck of Elgin, who is also a member of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association.

The bill guarantees package labeling is true and accurate , providing consumers with confidence in the meat they purchase. SB 392 isn’t a mandate on labeling, however it stipulates which products can and cannot use certain labels.

The bill also defines “meat” as being “any edible portion of livestock, poultry or captive cervid carcass or part thereof.”

The Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) was glad to see the bill move forward as it was a legislative priority for the organization. OCA Executive Vice President Michael Kelsey says the bill will help protect the integrity of meat products.

“Oklahoma’s beef cattle ranchers work very hard every day to produce a safe and wholesome product, beef, for consumers. Therefore, consumers know and appreciate that beef comes from cattle raised and cared for by responsible ranchers,” Kelsey says. “New technologies that utilize cell culturing to produce meat products in a laboratory would like to take advantage of wholesome terms like ‘beef’ for their products. SB 392 would ensure that packaging of lab cultured, and plant substitute products may not pirate the term ‘beef’.”

The new law will go into effect 90 days following the adjournment of Oklahoma’s Legislature.

A number of other states have passed similar labeling laws recently including South Dakota , Montana , Arkansas , Mississippi and Missouri . Other states like Alabama and Colorado are also considering bills on meat labeling during the current legislative session.