AVS: Production

Immerse yourself in courses in animal and meat sciences. Explore topics such as pregnancy rates and grazing management systems.

A Bachelor of Science in Animal and Veterinary Science Business Option prepares you to manage animals to produce meat, milk and other products efficiently and to guide the daily operations of an animal facility such as a dairy, feedlot or ranch.

Courses in business—such as accounting, management and marketing—will teach you skills for problem-solving and improving production.

Get hands-on experience in on-campus labs and animal research centers. At the meat science laboratory, learn how to maximize the value of retail cuts. The beef center has more than 50 purebred cows, and the sheep center has over 100 breeding Suffolk ewes.

In your senior year, you will integrate lessons from business and animal science when you evaluate real-world issues. You might determine the efficiency of a cow-calf operation, explore how a business prepares lambs for market, or examine how horses are bred and sold.

You’ll learn from teachers involved in today’s most pressing issues in animal and veterinary science.

Students are encouraged to complete an internship the summer between their junior and senior year. They work for ranches of all sizes and other livestock operations.

Prepare for Success

This major is a good fit if you can see yourself:

• Breeding and caring for domestic animals such as cattle, sheep and horses.
• Learning the fundamentals of animal biology.
• Making decisions about the day-to-day management of livestock operations.

To prepare, you may want to:

• Participate in 4-H activities, volunteer at a county fair, or work for a farm or ranch.
• Practice your leadership skills in student office.
• Pay attention to current issues in the news related to animals and agriculture.

Your First Year

Your first year, you will hone your communication skills with course work in writing. You will also take the science of animal husbandry, an animal husbandry lab, and an orientation to animal and veterinary science.

More advanced major courses include animal nutrition, genetics of livestock improvement, animal disease management, feed and ration formulation, animal reproduction and breeding, and agricultural markets and prices.

See the four-year plan.

What You Can Do

With this degree, you may become one of the following:

• Livestock production manager: Oversee the processes of a beef or sheep production unit or feedlot.
• Research technician: Be a support scientist managing the care and well-being of animals used for research, or be a laboratory technician analyzing research samples.
• Consultant: Provide in-field technical assistance to a breed association, pharmaceutical firm or food processing company.
• Business owner: Direct all operations of a farm, ranch, feedlot or other animal-oriented business.
• Sales representative: Sell veterinary supplies and medicine for a pharmaceutical or animal products company.

Opportunities

Upon graduation, almost all of our graduates receive job offers from businesses, governmental agencies or nonprofit organizations. Salaries start up to $50,000.

You may also want to continue your education. Pursue an advanced degree in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and breeding, or reproductive physiology.

Current Research

Our faculty members conduct research concurrently with teaching, exploring topics such as reproduction, growth and lactation physiology; meat and dairy science and nutrition; and aquaculture.

Research opportunities are plentiful. Analyze feed samples in the beef, dairy and sheep nutrition labs. Analyze the hormone composition of blood in the bovine and equine reproductive physiology labs. Participate in lactation research in an agricultural biotechnology lab. Care for animals at the beef, dairy and sheep centers. Paid positions are available.

Activities

Agribusiness Club: Meet business leaders and potential employers.
Student Idaho Cattle Association, Livestock And Meats Judging Teams, Block and Bridle: Visit farms and ranches. Practice judging and showing livestock.

Hands-On Experience

Intern. Get real-world experiences likes these:

• Nancy M. Cummings Research, Extension And Education Center: Help feed and care for 400 crossbred mother cows at the University of Idaho's ranch near Salmon, Idaho.
• Beef Feedlot: Rotate through all phases of the operation from feed preparation to treating sick animals.
• Ranch: Participate in the daily care and management of the herd.

Study abroad. Deepen your understanding of your major—and the world—in countries like these:

• Mexico: Visit family operated cattle ranches.
• Taiwan: Learn about aquaculture.
• Australia: Spend time in a country that prizes its beef and sheep industries.

Facilities

Facilities you will have access to include:

• Beef center with purebred cows
• Dairy center with milking Holsteins
• Sheep center with breeding Suffolk ewes
• On-campus processing facilities for meat and dairy
• Reproductive physiology labs