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Department of Animal Science

Department of Animal Science

Building the educational foundation for future leaders in the animal industry

Tomorrow's animal and natural resources industries leaders gain the educational foundation they need in the Department of Animal Science. These future leaders study under a dynamic faculty who not only teach but also set the pace with important research and aggressive outreach via Extension.

Throughout our curriculum, a student-centered focus allows ample room for growth and success, including scholarship opportunities and several enterprising clubs.

With our multi-disciplinary approaches towards production efficiency, product enhancement and natural resources management, both our undergraduate and our graduate students gain strong skill sets. Graduates of our program see career options unfold in a diverse and growing range of employment areas, from animal-related industries to natural resources management.

Many graduate students devise their own research or partner with faculty in our many facilities and laboratories, to solve the challenges of 21st century animal agriculture and environmental stewardship.

Animal Science Department Newsletter is archived on

Department of Animal Science Events

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Jan 8

Animal Science Beef 20/20 Banquet

Department of Animal Science News

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From left, South Dakota State University President Barry Dunn, national reporter and markets expert Michelle Rook and “Farm Journal” editor and “AgDay” host Clinton Griffiths tape a segment of "AgDay College Roadshow in the Raven Precision Agriculture Center on campus Oct. 30.

SDSU hosts taping of ‘AgDay College Roadshow’

With loud enthusiasm often reserved for athletic events, students, faculty and staff from South Dakota State University’s agricultural programs showed up in full force to welcome a live television taping of “AgDay College Roadshow” Oct. 30 on the SDSU campus.
The university’s newest endowment holders are, from left, Dan Hansen, J. Bruce Laughrey Endowed Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions; John Jaeger, Calvin and Mary Hayenga Endowed Department Head of Animal Science; Londa Nwadike, David A. Thompson Endowed Department Head of Dairy and Food Science; Cheryl Reese: Klingbeil Endowed Educator in Precision Agriculture; and Biying Yang, Nies Endowed Early Career Faculty Scholar.

South Dakota State honors newest endowment holders

South Dakota State University recently paid tribute to the university’s newest endowment holders. The third annual University Leadership Honors investiture ceremony — honoring six holders of endowed positions across three different colleges and SDSU Athletics — was held Sept. 19 in Founders Recital Hall in the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.

Experiencing SDSU in Sioux Falls

From NASA rovers and jumping challenges to medieval weapons and a virtual reality exploration of the ocean, South Dakota State University Day at the Washington Pavilion gave students and visitors a taste of what SDSU has to offer. More than a dozen academic programs took over the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls Sept. 20-21 to showcase the many different opportunities at SDSU in a first-of-its-kind event.