At Cornell, where the motto "any person ... any study" reigns, courses range from Quechua to nanobiotechnology to furniture design. But many courses take root in Cornell's mission as New York state's land-grant school.

For example, in the course Animal Science 4700: Beef Cattle Merchandizing students learn how to merchandize cattle, which culminated in a sale of replacement beef heifers Oct. 25.

"They are completely responsible for budgeting, planning, advertising, preparing the animals and executing the sale," says Michael J. Baker, Cornell beef cattle extension specialist, who teaches the course.

The sale, which about 50 buyers attended, featured 26 animals including two heifer calves and six bred heifers from Cornell's own beef herd.

"Some folks assume that Cornell-bred heifers have extra value," says Baker. "I agree, because these heifers are from a herd that has been selected for many years to excel in carcass quality."

Breeds represented at the sale included purebred Angus heifers, Angus Simmental crosses, purebred Simmental and a polled Hereford. The students also developed a sale catalog, available at http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/beef/, which had information derived from such modern techniques as ultrasound that visualized the animals' traits, including muscling and fat.

"For example, if a buyer is interested in increasing the muscularity of his or her herd, he or she would select heifers that had a high value for ribeye areas," says Baker, adding that heifers' temperaments were also scored before the sale. The sale was conducted in conjunction with the Empire Heifer Development Program at the Cornell Teaching and Research Barn in Dryden.

"The most valuable thing I learned in this class is that merchandizing occurs everywhere, not just in the sale ring for animals," says Chelsea Hoover '10, an agriculture and biology education major who minors in animal science. "Working on the sale has been stressful, but I have gained a new look at communications as well as advertising. I have also gained several valuable connections in the marketing industry."