U.S. Meat Animal Research Center

The Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) is a livestock research facility in Clay Center, Nebraska. The center researches methods for increasing the efficiency of livestock production.

The center maintains around 30,000 animals for its experiments.^[1]

The U.S. Meat Animal Research Center was designated by Congress on June 16, 1964, following the closure of the Naval Ammunition Depot, which produced bombs and shells during World War II. The property was transferred to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). On October 10, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed into law a bill renaming the facility after former Senator Roman L. Hruska of Nebraska.^[2]

USMARC has developed a genetics program and a project for evaluating germplasm. The project grew into a large breed comparison study.^[3]

In January 2015, Michael Moss of The New York Times published an exposé on the alleged mistreatment of research animals at USMARC. Among other things, Moss's article asserted that the center had no veterinarians on its staff, with surgical procedures done by workers without veterinary degrees or licenses; and that the 1966 Animal Welfare Act contains an exemption for farm animals used in agricultural research, which exemption covers the USMARC's activities.^[1] In September 2016, the USDA's Office of Inspector General released a report on an investigation into the material covered by the Times article; the report asserted that 33 specific statements in Moss's article had been investigated, and only 7 had been found materially accurate. It called for improvement in oversight of animal welfare, but stated that there was no systemic problem with animal welfare at the facility.^[4]

References

Coordinates: 40°31′36″N 98°08′27″W / 40.52666°N 98.14080°W / 40.52666; -98.14080