By Mike Chason
The calf was on the way. But the baby’s mama needed help. Dr. Mary Ellen Hicks was ready.
Students at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College will tell you that Hicks, a much-acclaimed Professor of Animal Science for the past 33 years, is always ready, whether it’s in the classroom, in an advising session, or assisting in the delivery of a new calf on ABAC’s J.G. Woodroof Farm.
“We hope that calf’s mama will get it done on her own, but I do help those that have problems,” Hicks said. “I don’t like spending long nights up here. But it happens. We pull students in on it too. I expect we’ll have close to 100 calves at ABAC this spring.”
Managed by Hicks’ husband, Doug, ABAC’s cattle herd numbers 120 or so. Doug Hicks, an ABAC employee since 2002, is the beef herd manager and in charge of forage production.
“When I started teaching at ABAC in 1989, we had a herd of maybe 25,” Dr. Mary Ellen Hicks said. “The herd had to grow because our number of students has grown. Assisting with the birth process is the reason I went into veterinary medicine. I’m used to it.”
Calves weigh about 75 pounds when they’re born. For the next eight months, their mamas take care of them.
“We don’t do a lot of feeding until they are weaned,” Hicks said. “She’s the primary food source until then. We’ll weigh them in November before they go to a feed yard in Iowa. They’ll leave here at about 750 pounds.
“The steers go to a feed yard in November and then on to a processing plant in May or June of the next year. By that time, they each weigh between 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. ABAC gets paid on the quality of the carcass.”
From birth this spring to the feed yard in November to the processing plant next May to a steak on the plate for your Independence Day celebration. The Circle of Life continues.
“We usually take some ABAC students to Iowa on spring break every year,” Hicks said. “We have visited the large processing facilities. We go to feed yards. Then we go and eat steak at a nice restaurant.
“The students get the pasture to plate experience. They see it from start to finish. In fact, they visit the feed yard where our ABAC calves are located.”
Hicks said the students on the trip come to realize that unbelievable opportunities exist in agricultural careers.
“Seeing the big picture is important,” Hicks said. “The diversification of jobs in agriculture these days is quite amazing. Vermeer, who the students also visit with in Pella, Iowa on the spring break trip, is an ABAC partner, and that gets these students into the equipment side of the industry.
“The job opportunities out there are more than anyone could imagine. A lot of our students come in and want to be veterinarians because they like animals. They don’t realize there are many other opportunities out there besides being a vet.”
Hicks knows the path to being a veterinarian quite well. When she graduated from Tift County High School in 1981, she came to ABAC to get her associate degree in pre-veterinary medicine. She continued her education at the University of Georgia where she received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1988.
Returning to Tifton, she started work at Branch’s Veterinary Clinic.
“I worked in Nashville a good bit when we opened that clinic there,” Hicks said. “I liked it. We were doing what I was trained to do. I did a lot of large animal work.”
Little did Hicks know that her life was about to take a turn. Through a series of events, a faculty position in the animal science program as well as the veterinary technology program opened at ABAC in September of 1989.
“I was licensed as a veterinarian, so I was able to take over without any problems,” Hicks said. “I had left the practice to pursue a master’s degree in animal science, so I was available at the time.
“Teaching at ABAC was fun. I liked what I was doing. I had students who were non-traditional who were almost my age. It was time consuming but not difficult. I still had a strong memory of being in a college classroom which assisted me with teaching.”
ABAC had hogs and cattle on the Woodroof Farm at the time, and Hicks ran prevention type herd health campaigns, delivered vaccinations, handled emergencies, and did general management of the program.
Time marches on but the students keep coming. ABAC now enrolls almost 4,000 students from 155 of Georgia’s 159 counties, 52 of Florida’s 67 counties, 19 countries, and 18 states. Always observing and analyzing, Hicks sees a different type of student today.
“More of the students today have a limited livestock background, particularly on the food animal side,” Hicks said. “More of them are from urban areas. We still have those who come from genuine farm backgrounds but even those students don’t seem to have as much true experience with animals.
“I spend more time with the basics. It’s just different.”
Because of some of the students’ lack of experience with raising animals, they find a harsh reality when they dive into the animal science program.
“Sometimes we have to make a decision that an animal’s quality of life is over,” Hicks said. “These animals must be euthanized. Some of the students have never experienced death before.”
Hicks is the only faculty member in the history of ABAC to be honored with all three top awards that faculty members can receive. She received the 2011 W. Bruce and Rosalyn Donaldson Award for Excellence in Advising, the 2013 W. Bruce and Rosalyn Donaldson Award for Teaching Excellence, and the 2019 W. Bruce and Rosalyn Donaldson Award for Excellence in Student Engagement.
“It’s humbling,” Hicks said. “And it’s not just the awards themselves. It’s the connection to Ms. Donaldson. To me, that’s what makes the awards special. Her approval means everything to me. She is just the epitome of the Southern woman.
“I had her in class when I was an ABAC student, and I still remember those classes very well.”
Hicks has plenty enough years in to retire from ABAC. But she still has the zest for her job. Ironically, it was the pandemic that recharged her.
“Before Covid, I had just gotten tired,” Hicks said. “Then that spring semester (2020), I had to learn to teach in a different manner–virtually. Doug and I finished the calving season by ourselves. I know retirement is going to happen one day. I just don’t know when.
“I have enjoyed my life at ABAC. It’s the type of place that hits everything on my check list. I have students who want to learn. I have a background in the community. I grew up here. There has always been a purpose here.”
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