The DelVal facilities set our program apart from others. The Large Animal Science Department maintains purebred Angus and Polled Hereford herds totaling 50 cows plus replacement heifers, bulls, and growing weaned calves. A spring calving season is maintained. Our purebred Yorkshire swine herd is composed of 25 sows plus replacement gilts, boars, and fattening hogs. This herd is classified as a farrow to finish herd. Gilts and sows are hand bred in groups of six to seven every seven weeks and maintained on outside lots until a week before the expected parturition date and then moved to the confinement barn.

The department also maintains purebred Hampshire and purebred Dorset flocks totaling 80 ewes plus replacement ewes, rams and market lambs. The goal of the breeding program is to constantly upgrade the quality of the pure-bred flocks to produce superior lambs, which are both structurally correct and economically productive. The ewes are classified according to E.P.I. and M.P.P.A. indexes and visual evaluation, with the upper 80 percent of the ewes being bred to complementary rams.