Beef Teaching Center
The beef teaching center is AAALAC International accredited, demonstrating commitment to responsible animal care and use.
About Us
The Stanley P. Wilson Beef Teaching Center (BTC) is located on Auburn’s campus near the intersection of Shug Jordan Pkwy and Wire Road. Visitors are welcome daily between 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Tours should be arranged in advance with the farm manager.
Teaching, Research & Outreach
The AU Beef Teaching Center was built in 2003 for beef cattle teaching, research and extension programs. The facility has two animal metabolism rooms and a prep lab for beef cattle research projects, two working chutes (manual & hydraulic), a modern classroom, and a conference room for smaller group meetings.
The facility serves as a teaching laboratory for several Animal Sciences major courses including introductory animal science, beef production, reproductive physiology, modern livestock systems, livestock evaluation, and special problems. The modern working facilities provide students with many opportunities to gain hands-on experience.
The beef production class participates in calving out the cow herd as well as maintaining health programs for the cow herd. The center also supports extension programs targeting youth and adults interested in the beef cattle industry and is the site for many Block & Bridle, 4-H, and FFA activities throughout the year.
One of the beef center pastures has been subdivided into six 0.7-acre plots to measure water quality in runoff from grazed pastures. Each plot has sampling instrumentation to sample water and soil runoff and to measure ambient temperature, wind speed and direction, solar radiation and soil temperature. This may be the only facility of its kind in the U.S. that is located on a university campus and permanently dedicated to pastures for grazing cattle.
The BTU cow herd consists of approximately 40 registered Angus and 20 registered Beefmaster cows. The cattle are maintained in pastures, 100 acres on campus and 90 acres north of Auburn, which consist primarily of bermudagrass, bahiagrass, and fescue. Pastures are seeded with clover and either ryegrass or a small grain for winter forage. The pastures vary in size from 5 acres to 30 acres and are grazed on a rotational basis. We have a fall calving season for purebred cattle and a small spring calving group for crossbreeding purposes. Artificial Insemination is used in purebreds for 40 days and the bulls are turned out for 35 days to maintain a 75-day calving season. For the spring calving group a bull is turned out for 60 days to produce crossbred calves.
The Beef Center is managed by Whitney Blackmon. Prospective students should contact the College of Agriculture Student Services Office, to arrange a campus visit.
Beef Teaching Center
Meats Lab
Meats Lab Facilities
View on Campus Map
Contact
Beef Teaching Center
500 Shug Jordan Parkway
Auburn Univ, AL 36849
(334) 844-4909
Hours of Operation
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Monday – Friday
Except Holidays
News & Lab Research
Beck earns two awards for academic advising excellence
Mallory Beck, academic advisor for the Auburn University College of Agriculture’s Department of Animal Sciences, recently received two awards recognizing her excellence...
Researchers study potential savings from reducing time on feed for weaned pigs
Research made possible by $300,000 USDA-NIFA grant The scale of pork production in the U. S. is such that reducing the average pig’s time on feed by just one day can...
Graduation marshal Rachel Robinson sets sights on vet school
Auburn University Marching Band member Rachel Robinson has one more march to make. The animal sciences (pre-vet) major is the student marshal for the College of...
Directions
From Exit 51/South College Street:
- Travel 1.5 miles north on South College St. Turn left onto AL-267/Shug Jordan Parkway.
- Travel 1 mile on AL-267/Shug Jordan Parkway. Turn right into the BTU driveway.
From Atlanta:
- Take I-85 South toward Montgomery.
- Take Exit 51 Auburn/US Hwy 29.
- At the end of the ramp, bear right onto US-29/South College St.
- Follow directions above from Exit 51/South College St.
From Birmingham:
- Take US-280 East for approximately 105 miles
- Turn right onto Hwy 147 toward Auburn for 2.9 miles
- Turn right onto AL-267/Shug Jordan Parkway for 4.1 miles. BTU is on the left approximately 0.2 miles after the Wire Road intersection.
From Dothan:
- Take AL-53/US-231 North for 43 miles.
- Bear right onto AL-93 for 6.7 miles.
- Take right onto AL-201 (over tracks) for 1.6 miles.
- Take right onto AL-15/US-29 for 28.1 miles.
- Take right onto AL-15/Martin Luther King Blvd./S. Rooney St./US-29 for 22.2 miles.
- Take right onto US-80 East/US-29 North/AL-81 North for 16.6 miles.
- Turn left onto AL-267/Shug Jordan Parkway.
- Travel 1 mile on AL-267/Shug Jordan Parkway. Turn right into the BTU driveway.
From Mobile:
- Take I-65 North toward Montgomery.
- Take I-85 North to Exit 51 (US Hwy29).
- From exit ramp, turn left onto US29/AL147 South College Street.
- Follow directions above from Exit 51/South College St.
From Montgomery:
- Take I-85 North to Exit 51 (US Hwy29).
- From exit ramp, turn left onto US29/AL147 South College Street.
- Follow directions above from Exit 51/South College St.