Nearly five decades ago, sheep grazed on Central Campus and pigs dwelled in the Kildee parking lot. Sows farrowed on pasture and beef cattle roamed Frederiksen Court. Each facility had an arena where students would sit and learn.

Today, the teaching farms are located south of campus and incorporate modern technology. The farms’ purpose remains true to the original intent, however modern students have additional opportunities.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Iowa State teaching farms. 

“The teaching farms are a face of the animal science department,” said farms manager Ben Drescher.

Iowa State is home to teaching farm facilities including swine, beef cattle, dairy, horses, poultry and sheep. The sheep and swine facilities are completely sustained by students.

“The teaching farms are there for the students and run by the students and have had a lot of success,” Drescher said. “We try to keep that heritage alive.”

Iowa State has a rich agricultural background as it was established as a land-grant institution in 1864, according to Iowa State’s website. The 1862 Morrill Act established land-grant institutions to help to fund public colleges that focused on agriculture and mechanical arts.

“Kids love the opportunity,” Drescher said. “They can work on the model of a working cow-calf farm, beef feedlot, sheep farm, poultry farm, dairy farm and swine farm.”

Jeff Hartwig, swine farms manager, said the goals of the teaching farms are different from the commercial setting he was used to prior to working at Iowa State. 

“In the university setting, the product is teaching and learning. The side product is actually the pork,” Hartwig said. “We produce the pigs so we can teach the process at every level and every age.”

Students and staff use the farms, offering practical and hands-on learning experiences.

“The end result is sending students into the industry with experiences that either help them get the job or help them on the job,” Hartwig said.

Student worker Morgan Pittz, junior in animal science, started working at the swine teaching farm in August.

“At home we don’t have sows. I didn’t have a whole lot of sow experience,” Pittz said. “Now I can say I know how everything works with breeding, gestation, farrowing, all the way through finishing.”

Hartwig emphasized the importance of adding opportunities for students and staff to utilize the teaching farms.

“People just need to know that, if they have class and they learn something and they want to come to the farm and learn it, we will teach them,” Hartwig said. “I want to create those opportunities.”

Since the teaching farms’ primary purpose is education, the farms have an influx of visitors each week. Drescher said more than 1,000 students may come through the farms in a given week.

At the swine teaching farms, Hartwig takes no chances. The farms each have a closed herd, meaning no animals are brought in without being quarantined first.

“We change boots and have boot washes and try to improve biosecurity to limit risk,” Hartwig said. “It’s easier to prevent it than to treat it.”

The teaching farms are unique for several reasons. The beef teaching farm hosts annual bull sales that have been successful in the past, Drescher said.

Every year, Iowa State University’s swine teaching farm raises pigs to exhibit at the National Barrow Show in Austin, Minn.

“I think the coolest thing was this fall, we were up in Austin and you look over and you see about 20 to 25 Iowa State students taking ownership of the hogs that were brought up there,” Drescher said.

Students, including Pittz, started to prepare the pigs long before the show.

“They were at the farm washing pigs, walking pigs every night, working together to do it,” Drescher said.

A boar that ISU students raised at the teaching farm named Cyclone, sold for $85,000 at the most recent National Barrow Show, according to the National Swine Registry.

“The teaching farms are unique because it’s not like your typical commercial farm,” Pittz said. “We have, for example, individual gestation stalls and group gestation to do both.”

The teaching farms also offer an artificial insemination training school for the public during Thanksgiving and Spring Breaks.

The future looks bright for the teaching farms at Iowa State.

With support from the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and industry professionals, plans are underway to rebuild much of the foundation and quality of livestock.

“It’s exciting,” Drescher said. “We’re getting to the point where we can use feasibility studies, architectural renderings and then fundraising.”

Plans include building a centralized feed mill. Only two other schools offer a feed milling degree.

The Block and Bridle Farm Tours Committee organizes tours for prospective students and can provide general tours open to the public.

“The agriculture industry as a whole is under a lot of scrutiny by the consumer who may not be educated,” Hartwig said. “The facilities are open for visitors. We could show you the process of production. We could show you firsthand that we take care of the animals.”

The swine teaching farm even has viewing windows designed specifically for tour purposes. Drescher said the teaching farms are meant to educate people.

“You can learn a lot from just taking a tour. It gives you a feel for what our College of Agriculture is focused on, especially our animal science division,” Pittz said.