Ferdinand’s Is 60!, Water Buffalo

Happy Birthday, Ferdinand’s

Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe at Washington State University will commemorate its 60th anniversary on Wednesday, Sept. 24, with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. and promotions throughout the day. All events are open to the public.

WSU President Elson S. Floyd; Dan Bernardo, dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences; Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson; and Russ Salvadalena, manager of the creamery, are scheduled to participate in the ceremony.

Ice cream cones will be sold for 60 cents from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Balloons will be given away to kids of all ages from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Door prizes will be given to the first 100 customers, and a special prize will be awarded to the customer who buys the 60th can of Cougar Gold cheese sold that day.

For more information about Ferdinand’s 60th birthday celebration, please visit http://tinyurl.com/4vdued.

For information about Ferdinand’s research, student employment, history, the oldest known can of Cougar Gold, and a Cougar Gold recipe, please visit http://tinyurl.com/5jgnb7.

WSU in International Effort to Study Water Buffalo

In an important step for animal agriculture in developing countries, the water buffalo genome will be studied at WSU.

Zhihua Jiang, associate professor of animal sciences, has received a three-year $60,000 grant from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and U.S.-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Board to study the genome of water buffalo. Jiang will be collaborating with scientists at the University of Cairo on the project.

“The bovine genome has been sequenced,” Jiang said, “but there’s not much information on water buffalo. It is an important species to developing countries.”

In large parts of the developing world, domesticated water buffalos serve as draft animals on small farms. They also are a source of milk for cheese, low cholesterol meat, leather and fertilizer.

The long-term goal of the project is to develop tools for determining gene sequences and their locations, expression and functions in order to optimize the reproductive efficiency, nutritional value and disease resistance of water buffalo.

Jiang has identified genetic markers and genes in beef cattle that are associated with marbling and subcutaneous fat that translate into flavor, tenderness and juiciness. Greater marbling can translate into the higher returns for producers. He also has identified a gene in dairy cattle that has significant effects on fertility and longevity. Decline in reproductive efficiency is a world-wide problem.

Jiang’s work has attracted international interest. Over the past five years, his lab has attracted 10 visiting scientist from India, Slovenia, and the People’s Republic of China to learn advanced techniques in genomics, bioinformatics and biotechnology.