Meat+Poultry - March 2023 - 15

F
or the past 12 years, Kurt Vogel, PhD, associate professor of livestock
welfare and behavior at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls
(UWRF) in the Department of Animal and Food Science has kept
his eye on the ball and not wavered from pushing toward one goal while
achieving many others in the process. When he first started his career in
academia, he aspired to work toward bridging the gap between the meat
industry and academia. After joining UWRF as an assistant professor of
livestock welfare and behavior in 2011, Vogel committed to mentoring
undergraduate and graduate students, which played a big part in his
academic and career path.
Having grown up working on his family's dairy farm, his work ethic and
preference for working directly alongside students in the university's meat
lab and processing livestock in the on-campus meat plant are part of what
he enjoys most in his role at UWRF. He wears many hats in his current role
and one of those is a hardhat as part of the protective equipment required
to demonstrate and teach students about meat processing procedures,
from livestock handling to further processing.
Ryley Rehnelt, an alum of UWRF, is the meat lab manager, a role he has
held for about three years. He employs about 20 undergraduate students
at the plant, which he points out is one of the highest-paying student jobs
on campus and a great way for them to learn many skills. He works closely
with Vogel in the plant, almost on a daily basis.
" He's my boss, but he's not above doing any job and treats us as
equals, " Rehnelt said.
ANIMAL WELFARE BACKGROUND
It's no surprise that for Vogel, who earned his PhD working under Temple
Grandin, PhD, professor of animal science at Colorado State University,
researching and teaching with a focus on animal welfare is a passion and
a lifetime commitment. And, like Grandin, Vogel stays engaged with the
meat processing industry through research and consulting projects while
continuing to teach and lead students and growing his corner of UWRF's
College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.
A recent example was in late 2022, UWRF announced the launch of the
Humane Handling Institute (HHI), which Vogel championed by submitting
a proposal for funding from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture,
Trade and Consumer Protection's (DATCP's) Meat Development Program.
The DATCP approved funding totaling $525,000 to support HHI. Vogel
serves as the director of the institute, which has a mission to develop
skills specific to the industry's humane handlers, stunner operators and
maintenance workers through a certification program that includes a
series of five educational workshops.
Earlier in the year, Vogel also led the development of another program
designed to promote meat science as an educational and career path for
high school students in Wisconsin. Part of $5 million in funding assistance
from the DATCP's Meat Talent Development Program, the high school
curriculum was developed by a team of Vogel's students and led by
Hannah Olsen, a graduate student at UWRF.
Working alongside Vogel, Olsen, a second-year graduate research
assistant, is leading the development of curriculum designed for teaching
high school students about the meat processing industry by promoting
meat science as an educational path that can lead to a wide array of
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