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Home > About ATI > Grace L. Drake Agricultural Laboratory
About ATI
Grace L. Drake Agricultural Laboratory
Just four miles from the central campus is our agricultural teaching and demonstration laboratory, which is also a working farm. The farm includes:
A breeding and equitation facility consisting of a 50 stall barn, a state-of-the-art breeding shed and laboratory, a 100' x 200' indoor arena, and a 120' x 220' outdoor arena. There are also approximately 85 acres of pastures and paddocks. Students assist in the management of the horse herd. They are involved in every aspect of management including feeding, stall cleaning, grooming, riding, collection and insemination, foaling, health care, foot care, and various other equine related activities.
The 143-acre land laboratory consisting of a classroom in the field and numerous educational, agronomic experiments and demonstrations. The farm encompasses 815 tillable acres, 350 acres of pasture, and the balance in woodlands, facilities, lawns and open areas. The tillable acres are planted to corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, alfalfa, and mixed hay. Students in the Crop Management & Services and Agronomy programs gain hands-on experience with the cultural practices necessary to produce high-yielding forage and field crops. These facilities allow students to practice crop and environmental management techniques through the use of seed varieties; chemical and pesticide use; and tillage, fertilization and harvesting in a commercial farm setting.
The dairy farm laboratory houses about 100 high-producing Holstein, Jersey, and Brown Swiss milking cows. Cows are housed in a free-stall barn and fed a total mixed ration in the drive-through feed alley. The calves are raised in individual hutches until two months and then they are moved into a group-housing replacement heifer barn.
The automated double-6 herringbone milking parlor is equipped with automatic detachers, electronic identification and computerized recording of milk weight. On-site computer systems record and analyze milking, feeding, health, reproduction, genetic, and financial information.
Each student assists in the milking, feeding, record keeping, health, reproductive, genetic and housing management of the dairy farm laboratory.
The Ohio State ATI swine herd consists of 100 commercial and purebred Yorkshire sows. All sows are bred artificially utilizing the best boars available from the ATI herd as well as various A.I. studs. The farm produces over 2000 pigs annually with approximately one-half of those being finished on the farm.
Eight sows are farrowed every two weeks in our raised crate system. Pigs are weaned at 18 days of age then go through our 400 pig 2-stage environmentally controlled raised deck nursery. The finishing unit is a partially slatted, double curtained, naturally ventilated facility with an automated feed delivery system.
Students assist in the daily operation of the herd and facilities, including baby pig management, reproductive management, live animal evaluation, ultrasonics, and computerized record-keeping.
Ohio State ATI's beef facility provides practical experience for students in the management of a commercial cow/calf and feedlot operation. Students manage purebred and commercial cattle. Ohio State ATI students can also work at OARDC's 300-head beef feedlot. Students in the sheep option work with a flock of 300 ewes at OARDC and Ohio State ATI's flock of 30 registered Corriedales.
The beef herd includes crossbred and registered Angus, Shorthorn, and nationally recognized Murray Grey cattle. Breeding stock includes 90 brood cows, replacement heifers and bulls.
Students assist in the daily care of the herd. They learn to operate an automated feedlot and gain a solid foundation in calving, branding, artificial insemination, hoof trimming, vaccinating and dehorning.
Ohio State ATI's aquaculture facility was funded by an anonymous donor. The facility was built in 1992 to help Ohio State ATI add diversity to its agricultural programs.
Our laboratory also includes a grain handling facility, farm shop, equipment storage barns, aquaculture facility and numerous demonstration areas.
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