Ninety Years and Counting

I wrote this piece as a part of my job at the OSU Animal Science Alumni Association for our official publication, The Brand Magazine.

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Ninety Years and Counting

OSU Sheep and Goat Center Continues Tradition of Excellence for Over 90 Years

By Kaylyn Branen

Just west of the main campus at Oklahoma State University, sits the second oldest building in the school’s history: the Sheep and Goat Barn.

This center is filled with a rich history and tradition, with a legacy for raising quality livestock. The main barn, built in 1930, has been newly renovated for the home of over 200 head of Dorset, Hampshire and Suffolk sheep and Boer goats.

“It worked well 70 years ago but things have changed,” said Dr. Jerry Fitch, the faculty supervisor and OSU sheep and goat Extension specialist. “We’ve progressed, but the history of the facility led us to believe that maybe instead of taking it down and putting up some kind of metal structure that has no history, maybe we can fix and renovate it."

The improvements to the structure include new pens, fences, barn heaters, an updated office, and a restroom. These improvements have not only helped maintain comfort levels for the livestock, but make it easier to clean pens and complete maintenance, said Darin Annuschat, the sheep and goat center manager and OSU alumni.

While they would like to add additional improvements, it would be impossible to do so without changing the structure of the building, something Fitch said they want to refrain from because of the history embedded into the structure.

As visitors walk into the newly renovated office space, they will see a hand painted "Grand Champion Pen of Wethers" sign from Louisville, traveling trophies from past successes, and other memorabilia collected over the years at the center.

“Even though our mission has changed and the livestock we sell has changed compared to 30 years ago, I just thought it would be cool to keep some of the old stuff around here to see,” Annuchat said. “The tradition part of it is very important.”

During the unit’s 90-year history, there have only been four herd managers, Fitch said.

Alex McKenzie and Bill Crutcher were both herdsmen at the Sheep and Goat Center for a combined total of more than 80 years, he added.

“Both of them are legends in the sheep industry,” Fitch said. “They have judged every national show, most state shows. They are world-renowned, nationally renowned, judges. Just two exceptional individuals who lived and breathed Oklahoma State University, lived and breathed sheep production, and were the most ethical people I have ever known in my life.”

Crutcher was able to pair genetics of sheep to create great breeding stock, Annuschat said.

Annuschat worked at the Sheep and Goat Center as an undergraduate student and became the interim manager as a graduate student. In July of 2015, Annuschat was officially hired as the fourth manager in the center’s history.

Out of all his responsibilities, working with students is his favorite part of his job, Annuschat said.

“They keep me young,” Annuschat said. “It is fun managing kids and trying to help them navigate their college career and what they want to do in life and help them make those decisions.”

The Sheep and Goat Center employs five to eight students each year, in addition to the classes that come to visit, Fitch said.

Cheyenne Hale, an agribusiness junior from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, is a student employee and has worked at the Sheep and Goat Center since her freshman year. Hale exhibited sheep during high school, but now through her position at the unit, she said she has been able to learn more about sheep production, rather than just the show lamb industry.

“Just being able to see that side of things has been a huge learning experience for me,” Hale said.

While the primary purpose of the unit is for teaching, it is also used for research and Extension, Annuschat said.

Most of the research conducted at the facility directly applies to the sheep industry, Fitch said. The most recent project included parasite research and grazing trials in hair sheep, Fitch said.

As far as Extension work goes, Annuschat receives a few phone calls a week from breeders asking questions ranging from parasite control to grazing methods to different rations and forages to feed.

Although now it is called the OSU Sheep and Goat Center, goats were only recently added to the herd in the early 2000s as a teaching tool for students, Annuschat said.

“When I started, it was kind of a thing to have goats here just for [students] to see – it was for a teaching aspect,” Annuchat said. “But with the influx of students wanting to start showing goats, we needed that part to start selling to them.”

Rather than just having a few goats to use as teaching purposes, the center started breeding Boer goats, Fitch said.

“Breeders just thought it was important for Oklahoma State University and the Department of Animal and Food Sciences to be involved in the goats and [the breeders] helped us get here,” Fitch said.

Oklahoma goat breeders donated does, bucks and semen for the unit to use as the goat program was built up, Annuschat said.

“It is really invaluable to see how much these people have helped us,” Annuschat said. “The goat side is 100% donated. It would not be what it is without the donors who have helped.”

Donors have been an integral part of the Sheep and Goat Center and completing their mission, Hale said.

“They’re allowing me to prepare myself and go out and continue to be involved in the agricultural industry," Hale said. “The things I’ve learned through working at the sheep unit, I wouldn't be able to learn anywhere else, and without donors, it wouldn't be possible.”

Regardless of all the changes made in the last 90 years, the OSU Sheep and Goat Center is continuing to raise quality livestock while educating students.

“There is so much history when it comes to the unit,” Hale said. “It is a really special feeling to get to be a part of that and play some kind of role in knowing 20 years from now when the Sheep and Goat Center is still thriving, I had a hand in that, it's pretty special.”

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