Support for Keeping the Swine and Sheep Barns at their capacity & Hiring Kelton Rozeboom for Livestock Operations Management

I am a sheep producer in MN. I have utilized the u of M diagnostics labs and attended virtual classes through their outreach. I love my the u more lands and know there is many acres available to house livestock and conduct livestock research that would be valuable to me as a producer. The land was acquired through a land grant and as such should be utilized for education. It would be unfortunate to for students in ag and veterinary sciences to lose the barns and animals that are close to campus. Could they relocate them to the u more lands with new facilities that would incorporate new innovations if the choice is to remove animals from campus?

This program is needed in one of the top hog producing States.

I am a freshman at the u of m studying ag, I came here to have hands on real life experiences and we would be unable to do this without the barns. The live barns is a reason people choose the u over other schools and without that the ag program will fizzle out.

University of Minnesota is running away from the mission of a Land Grant College. Once nationally respected and renowned for the quality education, experience and professors, they are losing students and failing. There is no valid reason to remove any more agriculture and vital research experiences for students from campus.

Please keep the swine and sheep units at the u of m

Keep agricultural alive and well. A few of thr LARGEST 6ish swine production farms are in MN. This is an important industry to keep growing and being vibrant! Having the U of MN keep these programs in ag, and others, are VITAL!

My late husband was a grad of UMN St. Paul. That entire experience made him a successful farmer for a lifetime.

I'm a St Paul campus alumni. I'm disheartened to see what has been happenening to the St Paul campus over the past 10 years. Talk of closing any livestock facilities will result in further reduction of the student body in CFANS. The university is a land grant university. That means one of main things that made the institution what it is... is Agriculture. Without agriculture, it's just another big city college with oversized classes. For decades, research in agriculture has led to breakthroughs in human medicine and advancements. Abandoning this core mission is abandoning any purpose the university may have had. It's time the regents and leadership takes a hard look into the core programs of the university and invest in them. All of the livestock facilities are vital. I also know Kelton and how dedicated he is to the swine program and how important he has been in helping students. People like Kelton don't come along every day, the university would be worse off without him.

Keep the barns. It is the most hands-on experience for the future generations

Please UMN don’t shut down the barns and do Hire Kelton. My daughter’s Choice was your University for those many reasons the live barns. She would not be where she is at today. Please keep the AG side of your college strong. So many depend on it.

I’m a 3rd year DVM small animal track student at the UMN CVM. We are required to also take Large Animal Medicine courses, one which involves swine medicine. I have to say that there are few swine clinicians and support staff. UMN getting rid of these opportunities will only make it more difficult for Swine clinicians and support staff in the future. These barns are needed!

I was in college with Kelton and this man dedicated any and all of his spare time to ensuring that the animals he was in charge of were cared for. Not hiring Kelton for this position is a mistake!

I love technology, but we can’t eat computers! We need to value farming and agriculture more.

These animals are essential for agriculture education, please keep this opportunity!

I believe that these students need the experience with real animals in order to learn the lessons they need for their careers

Please keep this swine research alive & kicking

My daughters graduated from the U of M and this was a big part of their experience while seeking minor and major animal science degrees.

We need to keep the edu action agenda of learning for the sheep and swine barns.

Our students need the opportunity for hands-on learning with real animals, that are easily accessible to them on campus. Let's support our animal units and staff.

As a current student manager of the sheep unit here on campus, I can say without measure Kelton is the most important asset to our staff. Through the ups and downs of lambing season, breeding, and summers on pasture, the sheep facilities alone need Kelton. He is the first person I ask when I have a question. All the odd jobs most individuals would not even think of like fixing waters, getting hay bales down from the loft, treating sick animals and knowing the proper protocols, hauling animals, etc.- Kelton does it all. And that is only discussing the sheep unit. The swine unit is ten times the amount of work with farrowing, breeding, finishing hogs, processing litters, treating animals, maintaining clean facilities, and so much more. I have only helped with farrowing a few times, and the work he does for those animals is truly remarkable. The barns simply put, cannot run without him. Someone new will not be able to learn everything he knows in a small frame of time, let alone understand what it takes to do a decent job in this position. Any producer- no matter the species, knows that raising and caring for livestock is not just a 9-5 job. It is around the clock work. The barns will fail if Kelton is not hired as manager.