Twenty-four students and faculty embarked on a 15-day trip to China May 19 as the first group to take part in NDSU’s Global Food Production Systems Study Abroad Program.

NDSU animal sciences department, through the university’s College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources, created the faculty-led program that focuses on agriculture and food systems.

David Newman, assistant professor of animal sciences, said the group has been meeting weekly to prepare for the trip by learning about Chinese agriculture and travel requirements and listening to guest speakers. Speakers have included Dean Gorder, executive director of the North Dakota Trade Office, Doug Goehring, North Dakota agriculture commissioner, NDSU President Dean L. Bresciani and Ken Grafton, vice president, dean and director for agricultural affairs, and director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.

The group will visit commodity markets, meat processing facilities, and animal birthing, feeding and sale facilities. The students also will visit the Chinese Agricultural University to learn how the university and political system in China interact with and influence its domestic agriculture sector. They also will visit U.S. corporate and trade offices.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.