Non Technical Summary
The purpose of this application is to advocate for the sustainability of livestock and meat industries in Hawaii by providing opportunities through experiential learning and extension field days for undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) and livestock producers within the state. With beef cattle important for the state's economy, it is crucial to educate and train youth and adult learners in an attempt to sustain the future livestock and meat industries. College animal science programs offering hands-on experiential learning are limited due to beef cattle facilities being on a separate island from the main campus. Meat processing facilities are limited within the state, creating a need for educational training around meat science and meat processing coupled with expanded knowledge about the meat industry. Therefore, the objective of this proposal is to develop and execute a compressed program involving experiential learning courses and field days related to livestock management and meat processing. These courses will cover typical beef cattle management and production requirements, and for students, be paired with a month-long immersive experience at the Ohio State University focusing on meat science extension around meat processing, quality and safety. This project aligns with two of the grand initiatives at UHM, to strengthen tropical agriculture and food systems through sustainable agriculture education, and enhance economic development for an adaptable and resilient community and a well-trained workforce, by providing the framework for implementing compressed, experiential learning courses in Hawaii to empower the future food and agricultural workforce.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
307	3310	3020	50%
307	3320	3020	50%

Knowledge Area
307 - Animal Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
3320 - Meat, beef cattle; 3310 - Beef cattle, live animal;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Goals / Objectives
Beef cattle are a crucial component of the state economy and culture. In the last 15 years, the average age of farmworkers has increased by 7 years from 36 to 44 years of age (ERS, 2023). Education and hands-on learning is critical to train the next generation of agricultural workers to better serve the state of Hawaii. Therefore, the overall goal of this proposal is to empower the future of Hawaii's sustainable tropical livestock management and meat production through undergraduate and graduate students, and livestock producers (adult learners) by utilizing education and experiential learning (hands-on) opportunities. We will accomplish this overall objective by completing the following specific objectives:Objective 1: Improve experiential learning for undergraduate and graduate students in sustainable tropical livestock managementObjective 2: Create a sustainable tropical livestock management program for local livestock producers

Project Methods
This proposal addresses this problem by creating mini-semester, compressed, experiential learning courses related to sustainable tropical beef cattle management, and couples it with a month-long immersive experience in large scale beef processing and production at OSU for both undergraduate and graduate students at UHM.Objective 1: Improve experiential learning for undergraduate and graduate students in sustainable tropical livestock management and meat industries.Experiential learning courses related to livestock management will be developed for undergraduate and graduate students, in addition to a month-long immersive experience at OSU. These courses include calving management, rangeland management and grass-finished beef production, artificial insemination certification, on-farm food animal processing, and weaning management. Each of these courses will be approximately 1-credit, and serve to fill the electives required for the Animal Science Degree program for undergraduates, and serve as courses for graduation for the graduate students. The courses will take place at the Mealani Beef Research station. The immersive experience at OSU will cover meat science, higher education, meat processing, meat science extension (working with youth and adult learners), state fair, industries and production. The curriculum will be hands-on experiential learning, working with staff at the Mealani Research Station. The courses are set up to follow a grass finishing beef cattle management production cycle (breeding, calving, weaning, and harvest). All students will take an initial evaluation to assess prior knowledge of the topic. Following completion of the course, the students will take a post-course evaluation to assess knowledge gained.Objective 2: Create a sustainable tropical livestock management program for local livestock producers.Producer field days will be conducted, where we will cover topics related to sustainable tropical beef cattle management practices. The sessions will cover areas such as calving management, reproductive management, grazing management, grass-finished beef production, weaning management, and body conditioning score training. Participants will also have the option to attend Beef Quality Assurance certification training and an Artificial Insemination Certificate course. The field days and workshops will be held on Hawaii Island and Oahu Island during the Spring, Summer, and Fall of each project year. Some workshops will be stand-alone events, while others may be held in conjunction with the UH Field Days and the Hawaii Cattlemen's Council annual meeting. Following the workshop/field days participating producers will gain knowledge to make informed management decisions to improve their production practices for their beef cattle enterprise.