U of I dedicates new meat science lab

By John O’Connell

University of Idaho

MOSCOW, Idaho –More than 300 supporters gathered April 10 to help dedicate a new University of Idaho meat science laboratory with ample space and modern technology to better serve the state’s rapidly growing beef industry.  

The 12,750-square-foot Meat Science and Innovation Center Honoring Ron Richard includes a Vandal Brand Meats storefront, a fabrication room, a further-processing room, two pass-through smokehouses, a product packaging area, a large classroom with audio-visual technology and an integrated test kitchen, among other amenities.    

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF) was a major financial backer of the project. IFBF’s board of directors voted to donate $250,000 toward it.

“I think what got our board excited was the vision of what this facility and program would mean for the greater state of Idaho, specifically our livestock producers,” said Zak Miller, IFBF chief executive officer. “As U of I’s meat science program graduates these high-quality students, they will go back into rural Idaho and this will actually serve our producers on the ground.”

IFBF President Matt Dorsey, a Canyon County farmer, noted several new meat processing facilities have opened throughout the state in recent years, and he said the new laboratory will fill a great need.

“It’s amazing, it’s state of the art, it’s got all the bells and whistles, and it’s streamlined having separate areas for harvesting and processing. It’s going to be excellent,” Dorsey said.

The new building replaces a 5,000-square-foot, 1960s-era facility where space was too limited to conduct multiple tasks simultaneously, which forced the meat sciences team to constantly shuffle heavy equipment between rooms. 

“The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) is celebrating our 125th year this year — 125 years of leading, innovating, exploring and providing practical research-based information to our communities,” said Leslie Edgar, J.R. Simplot endowed dean of CALS. “Facilities like this position us to continue our land-grant mission, both now and into the future.” 

Demand in Idaho has never been stronger for meat science professionals. The state is home to more than 8,100 cattle operations supporting 2.5 million head of cattle, valued at more than $2.6 billion.  

“The students who graduate from here have a 100% job placement rate, and now they get to learn their craft in one of the best facilities in the country,” U of I President Scott Green said. “This project offers another great example of what the U of I can accomplish when private partners, the state of Idaho and our own investments are combined.” 

Planning for the $17.5 million project started more than a decade ago, and several stakeholders contributed generous donations to make it possible. Discussions about the need for a new meat science facility were ongoing when Michael Parrella, former J.R. Simplot endowed dean of CALS, joined the university in February 2016.  

“We’ve done some incredible work — great teaching, great research, great outreach and Extension — in the old facility, but there’s no question that it was not a showplace,” Parrella said. “The meat science program, which is a signature program here on campus, should have the physical aspects that reflect the quality, size and importance of the industry it’s designed to serve.” 

Under Parrella’s leadership, the college also launched capital projects to build several other facilities throughout the state. U of I opened a seed potato germplasm laboratory adjacent to the new meat science facility along an access road now dubbed Meat & Potatoes Lane in early 2022. 

The Center for Plant and Soil Health at the U of I’s Parma Research and Extension Center opened in March 2024. CALS researchers are in the process of commissioning the world’s most advanced facility for deep-soil research, called the Deep Soil Ecotron, located in the JW Martin Laboratory on the Moscow campus. And later this year, CALS is set to open the nation’s largest research dairy based in Rupert, called the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Idaho CAFE).  

The meat science facility’s namesake, Ron Richard, was a longtime manager of Vandal Brand Meats who died in 2018. Richard’s sons who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony believe he would have been moved by the tribute to his legacy.  

“He loved this entire program, and I believe this building shows how much he cared about all of this,” his youngest son, Angus Richard, said. “As his sons, we’re honored and grateful that this building is here and that it’s named in his honor, and we’re looking forward to the future that it’s going to provide for everybody.” 

Tyrel Richard added, “He’d be honored and stoked for the new facility after working in that old one for so long and seeing how much it was needed.”