US tour: Students of Agricultural Engineering learn Animal Production

ZAMORANO provides students with experiences to strengthen their knowledge and keep up with reality in their field of study. International educational tours are part of the academic training of young people.

Third and fourth-year students of the Agricultural Engineering Career traveled to Houston, Texas, USA, as part of their animal production international tour and participated in the World Congress on Animal Production. They also visited Texas A & M University and other recognized livestock production centers.

At Texas A & M University, the students visited the Centre for Studies on Beef Cattle (TAMU Beef Center), the Animal Science unit (OD Butler, Jr. Animal Science Complex) and the Meat Processing Plant (Rosenthal Meat Science and Technology Center). These represented a great opportunity to strengthen their knowledge and learn more. They also had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Judith Turlington, Program Coordinator, Ecosystem Science and Management; Dr. David Forrest, Professor and Associate Director of Academic Programs, Department of Animal Science; and Dr. Russel Cross, Professor and Director of the Department of Animal Science; who provided them with talks about opportunities for graduate education at Texas A & M University.

The tour also included a visit to the two most recognized worldwide production centers of Brahman cattle: the Rancho HK, a Red Brahman producer, owned by Mrs. Dinah Weil; and Hudgins, owned by Mr. Bill Hudgins, breeders of Grey Brahman.  The ranch owners attended and provided technical talks to a group of students.  Similarly, they visited the international center for semen sexing, Sexing Technologies, in Navasota, where they had the opportunity to receive a technical talk from Dr. Gustavo Toro, commercial manager of the company.  Similarly, they got to know the research center for breeding beef cattle, the laboratory for in vitro fertilization, the transfer areas of embryos, and a semen sexing lab.

Knowing the advances in science and technology

At the World Congress of Animal Production, the students attended lectures. This experience also allowed them to attend auctions, contests, judging, and Webcasts on livestock and fodder production. They could appreciate the latest advances in science and technology in the area of animal production, and also meet producers and professionals in agriculture.

The tour was led by teachers Dr. Isidro Matamoros and Dr. John Jairo Hincapie, and engineers Maria Fernanda Ayala, Kenya David Lagos and William Zelaya.  The students were very well received in each place, and those who attended to them expressed their desire to be soon visited by another group of Zamorano students.