Department of Animal Science at Cornell University

An Illustrated History

Henry Hiram Wing MS 1881

First Head, Dept.

Animal Husbandry

Cornell professor 1888 – 1928 Appointed Professor and Head of Animal Husbandry September 4, 1903 Retired 1928

Dairy building constructed in 1893 (later N. wing of Goldwin Smith Hall)

First class held in the new dairy building (later East Roberts) October 1906

James E. (“Jimmie”) Rice appointed first head of the new Department of Poultry Husbandry, 1907

“The science of nutrition soon revealed the twin maternal qualities of the superiority of eggs and milk. If the cow is the foster mother of the human race, the hen is the twin sister. The Creator might have made a more vital pair of food essentials but He never did. They do not displace meat, cereals, fruits and vegetable in the human diet but are essential supplements to better living.” J.E. Rice, comments at NY State Fair

Horse barn (L) and dairy barn (R) Both were occupied c. 1910

Herbert Hopper (far R) and colleagues with dairy demonstration train used for extension, 1914

New Animal Husbandry building completed 1915, later named Wing Hall

Livestock pavilion constructed 1915, still in use today

Glista Ernestine (1908-1924) From cow family bred by H. H. Wing, lifetime production of

202,006 lbs milk, 7,342 lbs butterfat

Dairy type demonstration by Herbert Hopper, c. 1920 Two participants (far R) came on roller skates!

A departmental tradition of strong linkage between basic research and extension had been established by Leonard Maynard and others by the mid 1920s

New beef cattle barn (foreground) constructed in early 1930s (The draft horse barn at rear is now the Teaching Barn)

New sheep barn constructed 1931

New swine barn occupied 1931

Clive McCay pioneered studies during the 1930s on the effects of energy restriction on longevity and health of rats

James B. (“Jackbean”) Sumner was first to isolate an enzyme (urease) in 1926, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize

for chemistry in 1946

Leonard Maynard, Clive McCay and colleagues defined the metabolic origins of milk fat, January 1938

Stanley Brownell (3rd from L), Maurice Johnson (4th from L), and farmers visit first artificial breeding facility in NJ, 1938

“Sunrise Pioneer Lass” First calf in Tompkins Co. resulting from AI, born July 25, 1939

Dairyman watching inseminator load liquid semen into a glass catheter, 1941

Stanley Brownell conducting a clinic for AI technicians, 1944

New NYABC headquarters on East Hill, 1944

Animal Husbandry 50, Tues lab section, 1946 (Bob Foote was TA)

Sydney Asdell with the mobile laboratory to help producers with dairy herd infertility problems, late 1940s

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Jack Loosli et al. report that rumen microbes synthesize essential amino acids from non-protein nitrogen sources

Science, August 1949

Bill Hansel demonstrates effects of plane of nutrition on growth and reproductive development of dairy heifers

August 1954

Group of dairy cattle breeders evaluate Cornell Holsteins, with dairy barns in background (c. 1955)

Original graph depicting Tom Reid’s date of cutting prediction, published c. 1955

International agriculture First calf born from frozen semen at Los Banos, Philippines

June 5, 1956

F. B. Morrison published the 22nd edition of his famous text, “Feeds and Feeding” in 1956. This was the final edition due to his death in 1958.

The dawn of the information age in the dairy industry! Jim Burke on duty at the NYABC Cattle Show, August 1957

Research on stiff lamb disease, initiated by J.P. Willman in the 1930s, was completed by discovery of the role of

selenium by Doug Hogue and others in the 1950s

Morrison Hall under construction, October 1959

The newly built Morrison Hall was dedicated on September 12, 1961 to the memory of Frank B. Morrison, second head of department 1928-1945, and pre-eminent practical nutritionist

Aerial view of the main dairy barn and other buildings adjacent to Morrison Hall, mid 1960’s

Early use of computers in the Dairy Records Processing Laboratory (DRPL), 1960s

Cow meets computer in DRPL

Jim Stouffer using ultrasound to measure loin eye area on a live beef steer

George Wellington conducting a beef cattlemen’s short course in Morrison Hall

John Miller conducting a beef cattlemen’s short course in the Livestock Pavilion

Dennis Hartman with a 4-H judging team

Dick Warner shed light on the hitherto dark subject of rumen development in dairy calves, 1950s – 1960s

International graduate students (L to R) O. Paladines (Ecuador), A. Bensadoun (France) and I. K. Han (Korea) with

their advisor, Tom Reid (second from R), early 1960s

Fire destroyed the dairy barn near Morrison Hall on June 22, 1968. The fire was set accidentally by local children.

The department’s dog farm (now closed) provided research beagles for Willard Visek and others during the 1960s and 1970s

Students in Visek’s mammalian physiology lab class, conducted in Morrison Hall, early 1970s

Chuck Henderson’s development of sophisticated statistical methods for dairy sire selection, combined with AI, led to unprecedented rates of genetic improvement in milk production that have continued unabated to the present day

Headquarters building at the new Teaching & Research Center February, 1975

Part of new sheep unit at the Teaching & Research Center November 1975

New beef cattle unit at the Teaching & Research Center c. 1978

New swine unit constructed on Pine Tree Rd., 1977

Lambs on feeding trial at T & R sheep unit, c. 1980

Jim Stouffer teaching a meat science class in B82 Morrison

Meat science students conducting a product evaluation in Morrison Hall

Teaching Barn on campus, remodeled from original draft horse (later beef) barn, is still used extensively

Exercise physiology research conducted by a student of Skip Hintz, using a draft horse on the large treadmill in CUCVM

Peter Van Soest continued to refine methodology for fiber analysis and to demonstrate the practical utility of the

detergent system through the 1970s and 1980s

“Mr. DHI”, Harry Ainslie, was recognized by ADSA (1979) and DHIA (1981) for a career of service to the dairy industry

Large Animal Research & Teaching Unit (LARTU) near Morrison Hall, constructed 1981

Dale Bauman injecting the first cow with bST LARTU, December 1981

Seminar room (348 Morrison) dedicated to Kenneth L. Turk September 19, 1986

Sheep unit at Mt Pleasant for demonstration of STAR accelerated lambing system, operated 1988-1997

STAR Dorset ewe B314 - lambed twelve times and produced 24 lambs in 7 years, with an average birth weight >4 kg

Don Beermann et al. demonstrated the stimulation of hindquarter muscle hypertrophy in lambs by the ß-agonist, cimaterol, 1980s L lamb – cimaterol treated R lamb – control

Dean Boyd et al. demonstrated the efficacy of porcine somatotropin (pST) in promoting lean and reducing fat growth in finishing swine, 1980s Upper – control Lower – pST treated

Bob Foote and Xiangzhong (Jerry) Yang used micromanipulation of morulae (L) to produce

chimeric rabbits (R) in the late 1980s

The Department of Poultry & Avian Sciences, founded in 1907, was disbanded in 1990, with several faculty members transferring to Animal Science

Rice Hall was home to the Department of Poultry Husbandry (later Poultry & Avian Sciences) 1912 - 1990

The Poultry Farm continues to support applied and fundamental research on avian nutrition and physiology

Research initiated by Dale Bauman led to the development, FDA approval, and, in 1994, commercial release of bST (Posilac®) for increasing performance and productive efficiency of dairy cows

Dairy Facilities Engineering Human Resource Management Farm Business Management

Dairy Youth Herd Health

Environmental/Nutrient Management

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/prodairy/

Dave Galton appointed Director of expanded and re-focused PRO-DAIRY extension program, 1997

Mike Van Amburgh instructing Applied Cattle Nutrition students in the new information technology classroom,

created by renovation of 164 Morrison in 1999

2001 Student Livestock Show This popular annual event has been sponsored by the Block & Bridle Club for many years. It is entirely student organized and operated.

Bob Everett applied the Test Day Model to demonstrate major increases in the performance of Northeast dairy herds during

the 4 years after adoption of bST (Posilac ®)

* 1993 set to zero.

Precision nutrition of dairy cattle and its relation to whole-farm nutrient management is the major focus of a multi-disciplinary group of faculty and staff led by Danny Fox

Dairy Fellows Class of ’03 With Dave Galton (front L), Mike Van Amburgh (front R) and Terry Batchelder (back R)

Jamie Hu, PhD ’03, obtaining molecular biology data in Susan Quirk’s laboratory

International animal agriculture is a major research and outreach focus of Bob Blake, Dan Brown, and Alice Pell. Programs are devoted to development of food systems and environmental protection in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Dave Galton (R) becomes the all-time most successful national collegiate dairy judging coach, October 2003

Champion team, from L: Brett Bossard, Darin Hill, Jeena Rinehart (high individual), Kendra Inman

CUDS members before and after the annual NY Holstein Harvest Sale in the Livestock Pavilion, November 1, 2003 Students were totally responsible for care and preparation of cattle consigned for sale

And now, on to the next century….