College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences

Transcript

Greta of St. Paul, Minnesota is gonna take us out of the classroom now and into the great outdoors. It’s one of the university’s campus farms to be exact. Greta is all about animals. She’s an Agriculture Education major and Equine Science minor. If you have a soft spot for life in the farm, you’ll love Greta’s story. Take it away, Greta.

– Hey y’all. I’ve always had a passion for animals and especially horses, but growing up in the city, owning livestock was not an easy option. Luckily, UWRF is helping me achieve my dream of some day owning a farm through their hands-on curriculum, clubs, and career opportunities. Our campus has two campus farms, one for horses and one for livestock and crops. I love being a part of the UWRF Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Western Show team. We practice horsemanship, reigning, and ranch riding. Then we travel to compete against other colleges. IHSA allows students the opportunity to show horses without the expense of owning a horse. The horse you ride is decided by a draw system at the host school. My teammates are my best friends and family. In another class, UWRF Racehorse Retraining, each student is assigned an off-the-track thoroughbred. Throughout the semester, it’s our job to retrain the horse to repurpose them for other skills. At the end of the semester, the horses are adopted off into new homes. Lastly, I’m a part of Block and Bridle, a student organization where we learn to show livestock and have a show. Last semester, I learned to show lambs and market goats. But our campus has more than just teaching farms. It is located on a world-class trout stream, the Kinnickinnic River. Before class, I love to fly fish. The scenery is gorgeous and the trout are plentiful. Some surveys have even documented 10,000 trout a mile. Overall, UWRF has been a life-changing experience with countless opportunities and has prepared me for my future. I have gained so many skills for my future and have lifelong best friends, both two and four-legged. Thank you for hearing my story, and back to you, Alex.

– Thank you, Greta. UWRF also has a dairy herd that is part of a statewide innovation research network. Another really neat thing is that the milk produced on campus is used to make cheese and ice cream made completely by students in the campus dairy plant. I absolutely love it. Thanks again for sharing your story.