Farm Director, KC Sheperd, is visiting with the Dean and Vice President of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Jayson Lusk, about New Frontiers Agricultural Hall and his priorities going forward.
The construction of the New Frontiers Agricultural Hall is on track, Lusk said, as the new space will not only be a great place for students and faculty to learn, work, and research, but it will also aid in the recruitment of new students.
“A wonderful facility that is made possible by the generous support of donors and alums,” Lusk said. “We are aiming for that facility to be done this summer because we have classes scheduled for the fall.”
Some of Lusk’s priorities, he said, involve improving the school’s ag farms and livestock facilities. As OSU is known for releasing top-of-the-line wheat varieties, Lusk said improving those facilities will be vital to continued success in the future.
“Thinking about how we can grow extension and add new capacities in a new modern way is something I am looking forward to working on in the next year or two,” Lusk said.
OSU’s world-class wheat breeding team is not only Oklahoma-based, Lusk said, but wheat varieties produced by the team are planted on 10 percent of all wheat acres nationally.
“To give an analogy, in the car market, Honda has about a 10 percent market share,” Lusk said. “I am not satisfied with being Honda. I want us to be Ford or Chevy.”
It is challenging to conduct 2023 research in 1940s facilities, Lusk said, so one of his top priorities is to continue to make improvements.
“Those things take first-rate facilities, and we are going to be working on that to try to raise the funds that are necessary to make that kind of work happen,” Lusk said.
