Courses for US and Brazilian Students

Texas A&M University | University of California – Davis | CalPoly | Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE) | Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA) / Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

Texas A&M University (TAMU)
City: College Station
State: Texas

Code	Description	Credits
ANSC 107 General Animal Science	Scientific animal agriculture; selection, reproduction, nutrition, management and marketing of beef cattle, swine, sheep, goats and horses; evaluation and processing of meat, wool and mohair. Importance of livestock and meat industries	3
ANSC 108 General Animal Science	Laboratory of ANSC 107	1
ANSC 303 Principles of Animal Nutrition	Scientific approach to nutritional roles of water, carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, minerals, vitamins, and other dietary components; emphasis on the comparative aspects of gastrointestinal tracts and on digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients	3
ANSC 307 Meats	Integrated studies of the meat animal processing sequence regarding the production of meat-type animals and the science and technology of their conversion to human food	3
ANSC 317 Meat Selection, Evaluation, and Grading	Selection and grading of carcasses and wholesale cuts of beef, pork and lamb; principles of evaluation included in carcass contests and progeny testing	2
ANSC 318 Feeds and Feeding	Characteristics of feedstuffs used in livestock enterprises; manual and computer ration formulation procedures and life cycle nutritional management of beef, swine, sheep, dairy, horses, fish and pets; methods of grain, protein supplement and forage processing and evaluation; commercial and on-the-farm feed mixing methods and feed control laws	3
ANSC 320 Animal Nutrition and Feeding	Nutritional functions of water, protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins and their digestion, absorption, use and excretion; energy, protein and forage feedstuff characteristics and processing; nutritional requirements, ration formulation and feeding methods for farm animals; general course for non-animal science majors.	3
ANSC 406 Beef Cattle Production and Management	Basic principles and methods of application involved in breeding, feeding, management, marketing and disease control in cow-calf production	4

Complete list of courses in Animal Science at Texas A&M University can be found here. Please note that courses may not be offered every semester.

[back to top]

University of California at Davis (UCDavis)
City: Davis
State: California

Code	Description	Credits

[back to top]

California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly)
City: San Obispo
State: California

Click here to download the catalog of courses in Animal and Dairy Sciences. The complete course catalog can be found here.

[back to top]

Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE)
Cidade: Recife
Estado: Pernambuco

Semester	Description	Credits
Beef cattle production and management	Current situation and prospects of beef cattle production and management in Brazil and worldwide. Main breeds used in production systems. Systems and phases of livestock production. Facilities and equipment. Reproduction, nutrition, diet and health. Additives. Classification and typification of carcasses.	4
Dairy cattle production and management	Dairy production in Brazil and worldwide. Social and economical aspects of dairy production. Breeds and dairy cattle breeding. Dairy cattle production and management techniques for extensive and intensive systems. Nutritional and reproduction aspects of dairy cattle. Embryo transfer and other reproductive techniques. Lactation physiology. Sanity. Bioclimatology. Facilities.	4
Buffalo production and management	History of buffalo production and management in Brazil and abroad; main breeds of buffalo of economic interest, operating systems, behavioral aspects of buffalo, reproductive management, animal health and food, stages of development, quality of products from buffalo (meat, milk, leather).	2
Goat/sheep production and management	Goat and sheep production in Brazil and worldwide. Origin of goats and sheep. Social and economical importance of goat and sheep production. Classification and characterization of main goat and sheep breeds. Points to consider when selecting a breed. Site selection for developing goat and sheep production. Production systems of sheep and goats. Facilities for sheep and goats. Reproductive and nutritional management aspects of sheep and goats. Feeding management. Forages and pastures for sheep and goats. Leather and wool processing and marketing. Sanity. Planning.	4
Animal Breeding I	Methods of animal breeding, breeding of some species of economic interest. Introduction of Animal Breeding. General concepts. Methods of Animal Breeding. Selection: concept, types of selection, differential selection, genetic gain, selection aid, selection for more characteristics. Mating system: random mating, mating given the genotype, mating considering the degree of genetic similarity: exogamy and inbreeding. Breeding of some species of economical interest. Methods of improvement of cattle: beef and dairy cattle. Breeding pigs. Breeding of goats. Breeding of sheep. Breeding of birds. Breeding of other species.	3
Feeds and Feeding	The feed and its importance. Feeding systems. Conventional feeds, unconventional and non-products industry. Nutritional disorders. Nutritional requirements and tables of feed composition. Purchase of raw materials and quality control to animal nutrition. Feed evaluation. Chemical composition, digestibility and intake. Evaluation of nutritional requirement systems.	3
Bioclimatology	Inter-relationship between animals of zootechnical interest and the environment, with special emphasis on climate and weather. Animal Bioclimatology: Concept, origin and evolution, principles of animal adaptation, animal production of temperate and tropical regions, causes of low animal productivity in the tropics. Tropical weather: concept and characteristics; climates of Brazil, Brazil’s climate classifications. Key factors and elements of climate that influence the animals: air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, wind, rainfall and altitude. Measurement of the main elements of the environment: brief description of the meteorological equipment and its operation. Homeothermics: definition, importance and maintenance. Sources of animal heat; metabolism: the central and endocrine control. Causes of loss of heat by animals, radiation, conduction, evaporation and conviction. Physiological mechanism of thermoregulation; respiratory, circulatory and endocrinal factors involved in heat transfer. Blood constituents; use of cooling water in the body. Reactions of animals to heat stress, behavior of grazing ruminants in the tropics; Annatto-physiological characteristics of adaptation in animals: skin, hair, size, shape and structure of the body, thick skin. Adaptation of cattle, goats, sheep and poultry in the tropics. Effect of climatic factors on the economic functions of domestic animals. Improving the environment. Management techniques for animals in the tropics. Study of tolerance of animals to heat, laboratory tests (climatic chamber) and field test (Ibério) heifer, Dowling, Itner & Kelley Tauscheback & Yerokin to evaluate the tolerance of heat. The research in Bioclimatology in Brazil: institutions involved and main research lines.	3
Health and Diseases	Control of the microbiological environment. General prophylaxis. Disinfection and disinfectants. Infectious diseases of livestock production: concept, principles of epidemiology and control measures. Biosafety. animal health code. Rural sanitation: water, garbage and water served. Control of rodents, and synanthropic vectors of interest in public health and environment. Deficiencies and metabolic diseases of animals of zootechnical interest.	3
Pasture and Forage Crops I	Soil as a substrate, sampling, repair, preservation of fertility; establishment of pasture and forage production, rotational grazing, use and conservation as hay and / or silage. Forage crops and their history. Social and economical aspects of forage crops and grasslands. Relevant concepts and terminology. Forage species: description of main species grown in Brazil. Grass, legumes, and cactaceae. Silage: concepts and importance, production, fermentation process, planning. Hay: concepts and importance, production, drying, storage, planning.	5
Rural economy	Theory of agriculture development. Models: conservation, diffusion, modern inputs, induced innovation. The organization of production. Training for agriculture and prices in agriculture. Market products. Market supplies, machinery and equipment. Job market. Agricultural policies. Minimum prices, rural credits, agricultural research, rural extension, supply, agrarian reform, and irrigation.	3
Physiology of reproduction and artificial insemination	Ecology and ecosystem of pasture: Concept, importance and terminology. Ecological factors. Importance of soil and climate on forage production. Soil, plant and animal systems. Plant succession-botanical survey. Morpho-physiological knowledge applied to the management of forage and grazing. Photosynthesis and respiration. Growth habit and apical meristem. Leaf area index and organic reserves. Establishment and management of pastures. Grazing pressure and supplementation. Grazing systems and grazing methods. Control of weeds. Management of rangelands. Liming and fertilization of soil for forage plants. Soil pH and liming. Organic fertilizer. Mineral fertilizers: N, P, K, and micronutrients. Nitrogen fixation. Importance of legumes. Contribution to the soil/plant/animal system. Factors affecting the nodulation and nitrogen fixation. Forage breeding: importance, objectives, types of reproduction, and methods for improvement.	4
Ruminant nutrition	Introduction and importance. Determination of nutritional requirements and nutrient interactions. Anatomical and functional aspects. Microbiology of the rumen and animal. Use of nutrients and non-protein nitrogen sources. Digestion of nutrients. Vitamins and Minerals.	4
Animal breeding II	Zootechnical bookkeeping. Indices of selection. Genotype x environment interaction. Plans and programs of genetic improvement. Catalogs of bulls. Criteria for selection. Breeding applied to various species.	4
Rural extension	Rural extension of the twentieth century to the twenty-first century: some concepts, practices governmental and non-governmental extension and new prospects for action. Globalization and restructuring of the agricultural area. The issues that challenge in contemporary rural development: the new rurality, technology issues, environmental, agriculture, urban exclusion in the contexts of popular rural, farming families, women’s and youth’s associations. Preparation of projects of sustainable management of local development in popular contexts.	3

A Portuguese course is also offered. Click here to read the description.

Complete course grid in Animal Science at UFRPE can de downloaded here. Please note that courses may not be offered every semester.

[back to top]

Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA) / Universidade de São Paulo (USP)
Cidade: Pirassununga
Estado: São Paulo

Code	Description	Credits
ZAZ 0049 Applied Animal Nutrition	This course aims at qualifying students to develop studies and researches in the animal nutrition area. Providing theoretical and practical knowledge of food evaluation techniques using methods of “in vivo” and “in vitro” digestibility and “in situ” degradability, with the main domestic species of ruminants and non-ruminants	4
ZAZ 0312 Economical Analysis in Agribusiness	This course aims to help students understand the main micro-economy devices, and use them in the agribusiness business in order to increase productive efficiency; analyzing the agribusiness activity as eminently entrepreneurial; and trying to achieve its maximum efficacy in the current national economical context.	4
ZAZ 0313 Forage Production I	This course aims to provide zootechny students from USP with the theoretical-practical principles of the main species of forage plants, which are used in forage formation, as well as their inter-relation with the soil and climate.	3
ZAZ 0322 The Nutrition of Ruminants and Animal Feed Formulation	This course aims to prepare students to know how to feed ruminant animals properly and formulate animal feed by using linear programming through a microcomputer. Study of the nutritional handling of ruminants, since their birth, along the development of their digestive system, the digestion in the pre-ruminant and in the ruminant, the ingestion of dry matter, Cornell system for ruminant feeding, mineral supplementation, quality control in the ration production, manual and computer-based calculation for the formulation of animal feeding and mineral mixtures.	3
ZAZ 0328 Forage Production II	This course aims to provide Zootechny students from USP with the theoretical-practical principles of processes such as: formation, division, handling, correction and fertilization as well as forage conservation processes, for better utilization and performance of the animals.	4
ZAZ 0331 Zootechnical Bioclimatology	The program of the present course aims to teach students the causes and consequences of the interaction between human beings and the environment, applied to animals of zootechnical importance, as well as diagnosing the various situations and promoting the application of the appropriate technology in adverse environments.	3
ZAZ 0472 Water Buffalo Production	This course aims to provide scientific and technical professional training for students to work appropriately with buffalo production methods, considering the economical efficiency of the production system of milk and beef to respond to the consumer’s market supply. Importance and situation of the Brazilian and world buffalo production; Races and buffaloes’ exterior; Environmental adaptation and tolerance; Milk and beef production and buffaloes’ work; Facilities and equipment used in buffalo production; Sanitary handling and reproduction; Buffaloes’ nutrition and feeding; zootechnical control and genealogical records.	4
ZAZ 0476 Beef Cattle Production	This course aims at making students understand the reality of beef cattle production in Brazil, and get to know the narrow points of beef production and the ways to increase the activity efficiency. Professional dedicated to cattle production must know all the segments of the beef production chain in order to plan the activity properly. Therefore, several measures must be taken for the planning to be well executed, even before calves are born. These measures, together with the appropriate handling and nutrition in pasture or confined, define the different production systems. Hence, these systems must consider the type of animal to explore (European races, zebuine and crossed) and the environment in which they will be raised, in order to maximize the biological and economical efficiency of the activity. The zootechnician who works in the teaching, research or extension areas must know the national reality of beef cattle production and the ways to improve it, among them there are the simulation programs that integrate knowledge from several areas (nutrition, food, growth and environmental biology) and allow their application for optimizing the production.	4
ZAB 0481 Applied Animal Genetic Improvement	To give Professional formation to the students in the area of Animal Genetic Improvement, teaching endogamy and breeding concepts, calculation of heterosis and other parameters relative to breeding, breeding strategies aiming to obtain greater genetic progress. Mating systems, breeding strategies and genetic improvement programs of the main species of economic interest	4

Complete course grid in Animal Science at FZEA/USP can de downloaded here. Please note that courses may not be offered every semester.

[back to top]