Fred Launer examines spring piglets at Peckham Farm.

The Journal / Steve Szydlowski

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The University of Rhode Island’s animal-science program is growing, the result of the school’s commitment to biotechnology and the resurgence of small, sustainable farms. That growth is evident in the hectic activity at the university’s Peckham Farm on Route 138, across the road from URI’s tennis courts.

The farm is especially busy now, the peak of lambing season, and the beginning of breeding season for URI’s pigs, “the research animals of the future,” says Fred D. Launer, a livestock expert who teaches at the school. Two young females, or gilts, are expected to come into heat very soon, and when they do, they will be artificially inseminated. They are being housed in the school’s new swine building, under construction.

Nearby are several younger pigs, born in a litter of 21, about 12 weeks ago. They include a 150-pound female that could win any swine show in the world, says Launer. “Beautiful,” he says of the white Hampshire pig. “She has muscles that won’t stop.”

In the next room, Dave Marshall, the farm manager, and Mike Windsor, his assistant, are working on a pig pen. They recently received tons of heavy metal fencing, water troughs and other materials as gifts from Tufts University, where Launer used to teach.

A pig’s physiology is similar to a human’s, so the animals may be a source of organs for transplanting. “John Wayne had a pig’s heart valve,” Launer says. Students are learning how to breed and care for the animals that can be used in biotechnology or raised for pork on a small farm.

“I think small farms can be more efficient and raise a better product,” says Launer. “You can do it in Rhode Island. Are you going to make a living wage? You could, if you’re clever enough and produce a quality product. Niche marketing for niche farming is an up and coming industry.”

URI now has three sows, six gilts and several young males, or barrows. There are no adult males, or boars. They’re unnecessary and expensive. A top boar can cost as much as $50,000. “I can pick up the phone today,” says Launer “and tomorrow, for $100, have semen from the very best boar on the face of the earth.”

Outside the swine building stands a new “mootel,” a plastic-covered Quonset-hut-style barn that will serve a variety of functions. Large metal grain bins glisten in the winter sun. “The place is starting to look like a farm again,” Marshall says.

URI acquired Peckham Farm in 1936. For years, it served as a training facility for students interested in dairy cattle, sheep, poultry and other farm animals. Toward the end of the 20th century, the farm fell into disrepair and its herd became a rag-tag mix of shaggy sheep, old goats and two broken-down horses.

In 2001, the university hired Marshall, a 1971 URI graduate, to manage the farm. As a student, he had concentrated on animal science, forestry and wildlife management, graduating with a degree in agricultural science. When Marshall graduated, he established a horticulture program at Middletown High School. Then he left teaching and worked as a bird-dog trainer and breeder for 15 years. In 1983, he became a full-time farrier. He quit shoeing horses in 2000, and returned to URI the following year.

Since then, he and his students have been building fences, mootels and other facilities for the sheep, pigs and chickens, and the cattle on loan from other farms in the area.

Meanwhile, the animal-science faculty has grown from a full-time professor and an adjunct professor to five full-time instructors, says Marshall.

He and Launer credit Jeffrey R. Seemann, dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, for providing the resources to boost the animal-science program and restore Peckham Farm as a teaching facility.

When the university was planning changes at the farm last year, Seemann said, “We think that Peckham Farm, so rich in agricultural heritage, can become another jewel of the university, community and state.”

As Peckham Farm continues to be restored, the university is introducing new courses in sustainable agriculture.

Launer says, “You can feel the sense of excitement.”URI places second

  Thirty URI students recently placed second to Penn State in a national animal-science competition.

  Forty-five teams from 12 colleges competed in the annual event at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa.

  The contest included judging six classes of livestock against the standard for each breed, a speed quiz similar to the game show Jeopardy and the reading of research papers before a large audience of peers.

  Two URI students were honored: Rachael Gately of Somers, Conn., was named outstanding senior, and Jen Halleren of Towaco, N.J., won the top prize for her research paper on improving livestock production and disease resistance.

  Prof. Katherine Petersson and lecturer Fred D. Launer coached the URI team.

            — Tom Meade