Board of Regents tour new Beef Center

replacement barn at a projected cost of $900,000. The SFA Board of Regents toured the university’s new Beef Center facility located at the Todd Agricultural Research Center.

Dr. Scott Gordon, SFA president, said the new facility will greatly benefit SFA students and ensure the university remains competitive among other agricultural programs in the state.

The 20,000-square-foot facility, equipped with an arena, classroom and office space, sits on the footprint of the previous facility destroyed by a fire in November 2018.

In January 2020, the SFA Board of Regents approved the construction of a

“Additional donations from private industry, alumni and friends continue to assist in outfitting the new facility with state-of-theart equipment that will not only benefit current students, but also the surrounding community,” Gordon said.

Each year, SFA’s Department of Agriculture hosts an array of workshops and clinics for area producers in addition to high school agriculture competitions and community outreach events, such as Breakfast on the Farm, according to Dr. Joey Bray, chair of SFA’s Department of Agriculture.

“This is an upgrade from the previous facility and will increase the department’s ability to provide instruction in areas such as food science and food safety,” Bray said.

Despite the setback of losing a key structure and adapting to coursework amid a global pandemic, student enrollment increased in the ATCOFA — an achievement Dr. Hans Williams, dean of the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, attributes to the dedication and hard work of faculty and staff members.

Department of Agriculture hosts Ag in the Pineywoods camp

The SFA Department of Agriculture hosted 35 students from nine high schools throughout the region during its first Ag in the Pineywoods Camp. The camp, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture Grant, is a partnership between Sam Houston State University and SFA to expand opportunities in agriculture for underrepresented populations.

Students toured the Todd Agricultural Research Center and received guidance in the college admissions process.

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