A cow wanders the land on April 21, 2017 at the MSU Beef Cow-Calf Teaching and Research Center. The cows and calves rotate each pasture on average every five to six days. There are roughly 70 adults cows and 70 calves that live on the pasture.
Michigan State University students have experienced unique stressors during the spring semester. MSU's Dairy Teaching and Resource Center is looking to help soothe this by welcoming the public to spend quality time with their cows and calves.
The center is inviting students to "de-stress by petting MSU cows and calves" on Friday, March 24, Friday, April 21 and Friday, May 19 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
MSU Dairy Farm Manager Jim Good said the purpose of this event is for people to de-stress by forming a connection with the animals. Following the mass shooting on MSU’s campus, the MSU farms came together to host a similar petting event, which Good said inspired them to keep the program going at the cattle farm.
“Soon after the incident at MSU involving the shooting, we opened up the farm to students and the community in general to ... connect with the animals, de-stress a little bit — and it worked out really well,” Good said.
Good said he saw the positive effects that petting the cattle had during the last event.
“Somebody would stand there and just brush a cow for an hour and they just said that felt to them like it was so peaceful. It was just a nice connection,” he said. “Anything we can do to help students kind of de-stress and have a little bit more peaceful life on campus, that's what we're here for.”
Several East Lansing local businesses sponsored the event, providing food and beverages to those who came out to the farms. Good said he anticipates that this will continue into future events.
The MSU Dairy farms are open to the public throughout the year, but Good said that this is a “special hands-on” opportunity to interact with the MSU cows and cattle.
The farm is located at 4075 College Road in East Lansing.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
