Animal Science

There was information on sustainable agriculture, farming, animal production, bee harvesting, and aquaponics by the students of horticulture, animal science, entomology, beekeeping, sustainable agriculture, value-added products and aquaculture.

By Justin Ziminsky.

Students holding goats wrapped in towels.
Animal science students and farm animal exhibits.

The College of Agriculture Forestry and Natural Resource Management (CAFNRM) at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo opened its annual Ag Fair Day on April 27, 2018. The fair was very educational for students and visitors alike. There was a lot of information on sustainable agriculture, farming, animal production, bee harvesting, and aquaponics available for everyone by the students of horticulture, animal science, entomology, beekeeping, sustainable agriculture, value-added products and aquaculture.

The article describes the trends in milk production and consumption.

Christopher Lu
Christopher Lu

Professor Christopher Lu, professor of animal science at the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, published an invited review entitled, “Dairy, Science, Society and Environment,” at the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science (July 2017).

“This article describes the trends in milk production and consumption, the debates over the role of milk in human nutrition, the global outlook of organic dairy, the abatement of green-house gas emissions from dairy animals, as well as scientific and technological developments in nutrition, genetics, reproduction, and management in the dairy sector,” explains Lu.

Originally published in CAFNRM/Ag Club Newsletter.

Professor Christopher D. Lu participated in the Chinese Sheep and Goat Association’s 30th Anniversary Conference and the International Goat Association’s Board of Director’s meeting last August.

By Norman Arancon, Associate Professor of Horticulture.

Christopher Lu
Christopher Lu

Professor of Animal Science Christopher Lu was invited to attend the Chinese Sheep and Goat Association Conference held in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China in August, 2017. The organization celebrated its 33rd anniversary and recognized individuals who made significant contributions to the association. The conference was well attended by about 800 Chinese and international participants.

King Kamehameha wanted cattle to be a sustainable food source for his people. But today, the more the state relies on mainland exports, the less chance Hawai‘i has to be independent.

By Maria McCarthy, Student, Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, animal science track.

Cattle grazing, puu in background.
Ranch cattle, Waimea, Hawai‘i. Photo by Steve Cadman.

Cattle in Hawai‘i was once considered kapu (sacred, thus forbidden) to eat when it was introduced in 1793. King Kamehameha received six heifers and one bull as a gift from Captain George Vancouver. The cows were then placed in a guarded, 400-acre parcel of land, surrounded by a rock wall. The king did this to increase the population size of his herd to one day be a sustainable food source for his people. When King Kamehameha III reigned, he lifted the kapu in the 1800’s when the herd was around 25,000 heads.

The fair celebrated the bounty of students’ work and the presence of horticulture and agriculture in the community.

By Claire Kinley.

Group of students with goats.
Goat & sheep outreach with animal science students at the fair.

In April the College of Agriculture Forestry and Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo held an Agricultural Fair on the grounds of the College of Agriculture building. The fair highlighted student projects from different courses of the college ranging from value-added products, vegetable harvests from the campus gardens, and animals from the UH Hilo farm. The fair was open to the public to come and celebrate the bounty of the students’ work and give appreciation for the presence of horticulture and agriculture in the community.