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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Students at the University of Arizona are learning to work with cattle, sell U of A-raised meat and use drones and artificial intelligence to prepare for careers in agriculture at a working farm within Tucson city limits.
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The Campus Agricultural Center, located a few miles from the university’s main campus, serves as a classroom and research lab for students.
Students learn skills from livestock care to AI imaging
In the shadow of the center’s historic silos, students learn skills ranging from how to halter a horse and care for livestock to how technology can help them in the field.
“Really rudimentary skill sets all the way up through how do you fly a drone, remote sensing, working on machine learning, AI imaging. So that way they are industry ready,” said Brett Blum, interim director of the Arizona Experiment Station Network.
Blum said artificial intelligence is being used on the farm to help an industry facing labor shortages, not to replace workers.
Virtual fences track cattle at experimental range
At the U of A’s experimental range in Santa Rita, that technology includes virtual fences for cattle.
“Similar to an invisible fence for a dog, livestock will have a collar that has a stimulus on it that we’re able to then help direct and manage herds, not just on a pasture based system and a rotation based system, but generating up to 16 million data points a year, looking at resource utilization, where do they go in this pasture and why,” Blum said.
Wildcat Country Market sells meat raised on campus
Back on the campus farm, students can follow another part of agriculture from the field to the customer. The Wildcat Country Market sells meat produced at the U of A.
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“They can come in and buy meat from us. That’s local U of A meat. So it’s raised here. It’s processed here, harvested here, and then brought into the store,” said Emily Bluhm, a U of A animal science junior.
Bluhm did not grow up in agriculture. She came from the suburbs, tried meat judging, and found the industry she now wants to build a future in.
“I think people need to realize that agriculture is everywhere, and if we don’t have a generation who’s willing to put in the time and work into it, then we’re going to lose it, and it’s a really important place to be a part of. We need young voices to come in and speak,” Bluhm said.
Public access through extension programs and market hours
Blum said nearly 20,000 people connect with the facility through Cooperative Extension and 4-H. The Wildcat Country Market is open to the public Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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