Vision and Mission
Our vision is ecologically, socially, and economically resilient communities and healthy landscapes in synergy with humans, animals, and rangelands for current and future generations.
Our mission is to serve current and future communities through education, research, and outreach by providing science-based animal and rangeland information.
Overview
Students have a unique opportunity to major in Animal Sciences or Rangeland Sciences. As a land grant university, Oregon State has a distinguished history of leading the way in research-based knowledge through experimentation and education. In addition to campuses in Corvallis, Bend, and Newport, OSU has faculty and specialists in every county throughout Oregon.
Whether studying Animal Sciences, Rangeland Sciences, or the many intersections of these disciplines, OSU’s Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences will provide outstanding hands-on learning opportunities and mentoring by exceptional faculty.
The Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences has fourteen distinct centers or ranches to facilitate student learning, research, and extension activities throughout the state of Oregon.
Beef Cattle Ranches
Soap Creek & Berry Creek – Soap Creek Ranch is 1,880 acres and located eleven miles north of the OSU campus, while Berry Creek Ranch is 1,000 acres and located fifteen miles north of campus. Approximately 65% of these ranches are open grasslands utilized primarily for forage production, and the remaining land is forested. The approximately 100-cow herd is bred at Soap Creek and is bred to calve in the spring. Additionally, stocker cattle from outside producers are grazed at Berry Creek in spring and early summer. The cattle herds and the property itself are used to conduct research (both cattle and forage), classes, student projects, and extension activities.
Clark Meat Science Center
The Clark Meat Science Center, also known as the Meat Lab, is a research and teaching facility within the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences. It is also a USDA-inspected processing facility. Through research projects, ANS 251 & 351 courses, tours, workshops, and extension services, the Meat Lab aims to educate students and consumers alike, and enhance their understanding of meat science principles, concepts, and other issues involving the meat industry.
Dairy Center
The OSU Dairy Research Center is located on 180 acres just west of campus in Corvallis, Oregon. The main barn was built in 1968 following a fire that destroyed the original barn at the site. The main purpose of the dairy facility is to support research and teaching for the Animal and Rangeland Sciences Department. Researchers from various disciplines use the facility to conduct investigations in areas such as ruminant nutrition, reproduction, animal behavior, animal health, herd management, pasture management, and stored forage production.
HOGG Animal Metabolism Laboratory Building (HAMB)
The HOGG Animal Metabolism Laboratory Building (HAMB) is located on Campus Way between the Oldfield Animal Teaching Facility and the Steer-A-Year Barn. HAMB is used primarily for research purposes. There are ten outdoor pens for cattle and the barn has 24 calen gates for nutritional research. This facility is also used for artificial insemination classes for OSU students and industry professionals.
Horse Center
TOURS TO PROSPECTIVE BOARDERS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
The OSU Horse Center is located on approximately 250 acres just two miles west of campus on Walnut Boulevard. The facilities include indoor and outdoor arenas, a 35-stall main barn, 7-stall staff barn, 5-stall research/foaling barn, turnout pastures and paddocks, hay fields, and a hay barn. Approximately 15 horses are owned by OSU, and other privately owned horses are boarded there by OSU students.
Oldfield Animal Teaching Facility
The Oldfield Animal Teaching Facility is located at 3521 SW Campus Way in Corvallis, Oregon. This building opened in 2012 and supports teaching and research in the Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences. It includes classrooms, laboratories, a farm shop, and an animal research facility.
Poultry Center
The OSU Poultry Center is located at 4545 NW Harrison Boulevard in Corvallis, Oregon. This farm is used primarily as a research facility. Therefore, experimental birds are used under the approval of OSU's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. In addition, experiments are performed in accordance to the Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research in Training (2010) with biosecurity in mind. Therefore, public access is limited.
Sheep Center
The Sheep Center provides hands on experience and education for students majoring in Animal Science at Oregon State University. Located on 600 acres of hillside pastures, the center maintains a 100-ewe breeding flock for research and education projects. Research has focused primarily on using genetic variation to increase efficiency of commercial lamb production. Other research involves rumen toxicology. The sheep barn has facilities for animal handling, lambing, and group feeding trials.
Steer-A-Year Barn
The Steer-A-Year Barn currently resides just west of the Oldfield Animal Teaching Facility on Campus Way. There are 11 bunks with bedding, and concrete flooring for easier cleaning, as well as a chute system for close proximity handling. Each bunk is hand fed with a predetermined amount of pre-mixed feed based on the collective weight of the steers occupying each bunk. The capacity of the barn is 44 animals.