Down a long, winding road eight miles from Eastern Kentucky University’s main campus sits a hidden agricultural gem, surrounded by rolling meadow and the sounding clamor of livestock. This is home to EKU’s Meadowbrook Farms.

Established in 1974, the 720-acre farm is home to equipment and livestock that serve students pursuing agricultural degrees and the university as a whole. On the property sits a robotic dairy center, where over 40 dairy cows are housed alongside beef cattle and sheep units. Corn, grass hay and alfalfa are grown on the property, serving the role of livestock feed.

A recent readdition to Meadowbrook is the swine unit, a decision rooted in benefiting students, said farm manager Matt Collins.

“We kind of got out of swine for a little bit and was just getting enough in for classes, but we decided to kind of go back into it a little bit … we want (students) to get that experience and we’re trying to kind of move into some more value added markets as well,” Collins said.

The farm serves as a learning facility for EKU’s department of agriculture, with degree concentrations in agribusiness management, agronomy, livestock management and agriculture engineering technology. Also housed within the school are degrees in animal and veterinary sciences.

At Meadowbrook, students are instructed on animal husbandry, identification of sick animals and how to care for them, and how to operate farm equipment, among other skills. These include Cody Dawson, who will graduate from EKU in spring 2024 with four degrees in agriculture.

When he came to EKU, Dawson had no prior knowledge of the inner workings of dairy farming; three years later, he can “probably tell you every little aspect there is” about it, he said.

Dawson, like many students in the program, was raised in farming. Initially pushed to pursue a degree at a trade school, the importance of agriculture helped him make decisions about his future.

“My dad was like, ‘You’re going to make money in the trade, trade is important,’” Dawson said “But I saw it a different way … there’s no trade for agriculture, there’s no trade for farming.”

Upon recommendation from a high school teacher, Dawson chose to attend EKU and fell in love with the program.

“I feel like I matter to these people around here and I feel really cared for,” he said.

Taylor Stachler, a senior agronomy, soils & natural resources major, echoed this sentiment.

“I love (it) here because it’s like my home away from home,” she said.

Like Dawson, Stachler grew up on her family’s farm, and there were never any other plans in her future than to continue that legacy. Yet, she has still garnered previously untapped skills at Meadowbrook.

“My family doesn’t grow beef cattle and I’ve learned a lot of skills about how to handle beef cattle, how to treat beef cattle, if they’re sick … what to look for all the signs and things like that with the beef cattle,” she said. “Same with the sheep, we don’t (farm) sheep at home.”

All students within the department are required to complete a work study requirement to graduate, and many elect to do so through the farm. Collins, an alumnus of EKU, worked at Meadowbrook during his time in the program and the work done there contributed to his decision to return, he said.

LIke Collins, Dawson has also worked at Meadowbrook as a student worker; a requirement for these students is to work through breaks, including winter. However, as dorms closed, Dawson wasn’t sure he would have a place to stay and expressed his concerns to a former farm manager, who was living in a house on the property, he explained.

“He said, ‘Well, I got a spare bedroom for you … there’s no worry about it.’ And so I stayed with him for a good month while winter break was in,” said Dawson.

Agriculture products farmed at Meadowbrook directly impacts members of the community and EKU students, Collins said. He explained that milk produced on the farm is sold to the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and is processed in a Kroger-owned plan located in Winchester. Students on EKU’s main campus also consume the beef and pork produced by Meadowbrook, as the farm serves as Aramark’s main supplier.

“We are supplying ground beef, pretty much all of the beef for Aramark Dining that is fed up on campus,” he said.

The value of Kentucky agriculture remains a prominent one; as of 2021, over 73,000 farm operations were active in the state.

However, Dawson believes that many do not know the true importance of agriculture, overlooking the good and work done within it.

“My favorite saying is, ‘You’re going to need, once a day in your life where you need a police officer or a firefighter or a paramedic, but three times a day, every day, you need a farmer,” he said.

In the future, Collins hopes to see Meadowbrook push towards value-added markets as well as selling commodities directly to consumers.

“The margin for which a producer makes is very tight,” he said. “Agriculture, you know, trying to make a profit, it’s a very tight margin. Trying to find ways to make that profit margin bigger … that’s what we should be moving forward to.”

For Collins, outreach is a large portion of the program’s mission, and would love for students on campus to be aware that Meadowbrook, and the work being done there, exists.

“We want to tell people how we do our job, how we produce our food, where their food comes from,” he said.