Department of Animal Science - Iowa State University

What Department of Animal Science - Iowa State University does

The Department of Animal Science is an academic unit within Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, operating since the university's 1858 founding as a land-grant institution. The department delivers undergraduate and graduate education in Animal Science and Dairy Science (with a newly added Animal Enterprise and Innovation major), supported by a species-spanning network of teaching and research farms in Ames, Iowa — including swine, beef, dairy, equine, sheep, poultry, and the only U.S. university facility dedicated to turkey production (the 2022 Stanley L. Balloun Facility). Core technology assets include a federally inspected Meats Laboratory with slaughter, processing, and retail capabilities; a 480-head Swine Nutrition Farm; a multi-pen Ruminant Nutrition Farm with electronic feed intake monitoring; and a Dairy Farm shipping 29,000 lbs of milk daily to Prairie Farms.

The department's business model is primarily institutional: funding flows from Iowa state appropriations, student tuition, external research grants (USDA, industry, foundations), and private donations, rather than commercial product revenue. Supplemental commercial streams include milk sales to Prairie Farms, retail meat sales from the Meats Laboratory, equine breeding services, and fee-based industry product development using the Meats Laboratory. The go-to-market motion is community-led — recruiting students through campus visits, farm tours, and extension programs, then leveraging a reported 99% career placement rate and strong industry relationships to sustain demand. Customers span prospective students, current students, Iowa's $11.9B pork industry employers, veterinary medicine students, and private firms contracting for product/process development.

The department is currently expanding physical and programmatic capacity: the Kent Corporation Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex is under construction, and the program is integrating precision livestock farming (cameras, sensors, wearable devices) into its research and teaching portfolio. Leadership is dispersed across farm managers and faculty supervisors; no single named department chair is disclosed in the data. The unit is a non-revenue-generating academic entity embedded in a public university, and as such conventional SaaS-style growth metrics (ARR, NRR) do not apply — growth is best read in programmatic enrollment, grant dollars, and capital investment.

Name

Department of Animal Science - Iowa State University

Legal name

Iowa State University of Science and Technology - Department of Animal Science

Website

https://ans.iastate.edu

Company type

Public

Founded year

1858

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Department of Animal Science at Iowa State University is a public land-grant academic unit delivering undergraduate and graduate education, research, and extension across all major livestock species via species-specific teaching farms in Ames, Iowa, serving students, Iowa's animal agriculture industry, and private firms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ames

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices14 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. University Funding and State Appropriations: Primary funding from Iowa State University state appropriations, tuition revenue from enrolled students, and state/federal funding for agricultural programs.
2. Meat Product Sales: Retail sales outlet for meat products produced in teaching, research, and extension activities. Revenue from sale of meat to the public.
3. Dairy Product Sales: ISU Dairy Farm ships 29,000 lbs of milk daily to Prairie Farms, generating revenue from dairy production.
4. Equine Breeding Services: University offers breeding services to the public for horses. Foals produced are sold privately or at breed-specific auctions.
5. Grants and Research Funding: External research grants from USDA, industry partners, and foundations fund faculty research activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Department of Animal Science delivers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Animal Science, Dairy Science, and the new Animal Enterprise and Innovation major, combining classroom instruction with hands-on experiential learning at species-specific teaching farms. It also conducts funded research in swine nutrition, ruminant nutrition, genetics, reproduction, and meat science, while providing extension and outreach services to Iowa's $11.9 billion agricultural industry. Supplementary revenue comes from a federally inspected Meats Laboratory, dairy milk sales, and equine breeding services.

Product overview

The Department of Animal Science offers a comprehensive educational portfolio centered on experiential learning through a network of teaching farms and research facilities. The program includes undergraduate and graduate programs with majors such as Animal Science and Dairy Science, plus a new Animal Enterprise and Innovation major. The teaching infrastructure comprises multiple species-specific farms (swine, beef, dairy, equine, sheep, poultry), specialized research facilities (Swine Nutrition Farm, Ruminant Nutrition Farm, Poultry Facility), and processing capabilities (Meats Laboratory, Feed Mill under construction). Students gain hands-on experience while the department conducts research in swine nutrition, ruminant nutrition, genetics, reproduction, and meat science. IT support is provided through Canvas LMS, Cisco Webex, and Microsoft Teams for academic delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cyclone Alley: Student fan organization for Iowa State basketball games, led by Animal Science students
• Iowa State University Meats Laboratory
• Iowa State Horse Barn

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% career placement rate upon graduation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Prairie FarmscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrairie Farms is the milk buyer for the ISU Dairy Farm, which ships 29,000 lbs of milk daily. The milk is sold in local Midwest grocery stores.
• Iowa Pork Industry CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished research from the Swine Nutrition Farm can be found at the Iowa Pork Industry Center's web page and the ISU Applied Swine Nutrition web page.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture National Animal Disease CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFaculty from the USDA National Animal Disease Center utilize the poultry facilities for research in addition to faculty from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Prairie Farms Dairy: Regional dairy cooperative that purchases all milk produced at the ISU Dairy Farm (29,000 lbs/day). Functions as a key commercial partner and offtake channel for departmental production.
• USDA National Animal Disease Center: Federal research facility co-located in Ames, Iowa, with documented faculty research partnership using ISU poultry facilities. Compares as a strategic research collaborator rather than a competitor.

Direct peers

• Kansas State University Department of Animal Sciences and Industry: Land-grant animal sciences department with strong meat science, swine, and grain science programs. Directly comparable focus on applied livestock research and industry-linked graduate outcomes.
• North Carolina State University Department of Animal Science: Major land-grant animal science program with species-specific farms, particularly strong in swine and poultry. Comparable in faculty-driven research and industry-tied undergraduate placement.
• Cornell University Department of Animal Science: Ivy land-grant equivalent animal science department with research and teaching farms across dairy and other species. Comparable in academic rigor and dairy/meat science capabilities.
• Texas A&M University Department of Animal Science: One of the largest U.S. animal science departments, with extensive teaching and research farms covering beef, dairy, swine, poultry, and equine. Comparable in scale, species coverage, and industry-driven graduate placement.
• University of Minnesota Department of Animal Science: Midwest land-grant peer with teaching farms and applied research in dairy, swine, and ruminants. Comparable mission and stakeholder base, particularly given shared Midwest livestock industry footprint.
• Purdue University Department of Animal Sciences: Land-grant university animal science department offering undergraduate/graduate programs with species-specific teaching and research farms. Directly comparable in mission, structure, and student-recruitment focus to Iowa State's Department of Animal Science.
• University of Illinois Department of Animal Sciences: Another Midwest land-grant animal sciences program with teaching farms and applied research across livestock species. Operates with a similar mission of experiential learning, industry placement, and species-specific facilities.
• UC Davis Department of Animal Science: Large public-university animal science department with teaching farms and meat/food science facilities. Comparable academic scope and applied livestock research mission.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/IowaStateUniversityAnimalScience
• Instagraminstagram.com/isuanimalscience/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iowa-state-university-department-of-animal-science

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Department of Animal Science - Iowa State University