When Dan Sehnert, facilities coordinator for the Department of Animal Science, looks out over the Cole Facility on La Rue Road, he does not see the weathered bleachers or the mud-plagued arena.

Instead, he sees his department’s future.

There is talk of replacing the old, open-air arena adjacent to the horse barns with a $10 million, multipurpose agricultural pavilion, complete with a fully enclosed and lighted arena, animal holding pens and classrooms with distance-learning technology. It would be a state-of-the-art educational facility for students and an inviting venue for the public.

Lofty dreams from a guy who once thought he would just be passing through UC Davis.

After graduating from Cal Poly Pomona in 1981 with a degree in animal science, Sehnert began casting about for jobs that would take him back home to Nebraska, where he grew up in the small town of Dorchester.

But when a position in UC Davis’ animal science department opened up, it seemed too good for the new college graduate to pass up. And so Sehnert came to campus as manager of the department’s large animal physiology unit, surgical unit and meat science laboratory.

“My goal was to be here just a couple of years and move on,” he said, smiling. “And here I am 27 years later, so it can’t be too bad of a place.”

‘Always something different’

In October, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences recognized his longtime service with its Award of Distinction for an outstanding staff person.

As facilities manager for the department, Sehnert administratively rides herd over 40 facilities, including the campus dairy, beef, goat, swine, sheep and horse barns. He also is responsible for more than 1,000 head of beef cattle in the commercial herds at the university’s Sierra Research and Extension Center near Yuba City and Desert Research and Extension Center in the Imperial Valley.

“There’s always something different — it doesn’t get boring,” he said of the position he’s held for 15 years.

He also oversees the department’s laboratory facility; the avian facilities, which house a variety of bird species ranging from chickens to parrots to ducks; as well as the beef feed lot near the University Airport, and the meat laboratory and surgical rooms located at the Cole Facility.

One of the challenges of his job has been coping with the growth of the core campus. Another is to find new ways to weekly dispose of 125 tons of livestock waste that otherwise could be spread on fields as fertilizer.

“In my perfect world, we would have a campuswide composting program, that could receive not only livestock waste, but also landscaping green waste and other compostable waste from across campus,” Sehnert said.

He noted that the department has hired a composting consultant who drafted and implemented just such a program for Washington State University.

His other major challenge is hanging on to his crew of 21 talented staff members.

“We’re having a tough time attracting and retaining staff for the animal facilities,” Sehnert said. “For example, someone with a bachelor’s degree in meat science can be hired by industry right out of college for $70,000 to $80,000 a year, and the university can only pay them about $35,000 to $40,000.”

But his visits to other agricultural colleges around the country have left him impressed with his own facilities staff and grateful that UC Davis still has its horse, livestock and poultry barns right on campus.

The students are one of the major factors that have kept Sehnert at the university, in spite of many opportunities to go elsewhere — even back to Nebraska.

The animal science department has 23 students living in apartments at its various animal facilities, receiving free housing in exchange for 32 hours of work per month.

“The students are our eyes and ears at the barns after the staff leaves,” he said.

Despite his time in the stalls and the field, Sehnert admits that the bulk of his time is spent at the computer in his Meyer Hall office.

“The amount of paperwork has just exploded in recent years,” he noted.

What’s the best part of the job for you?

It’s always something different — a few weeks ago, we had the Budweiser Clydesdales staying at the Cole Facility’s ‘mare motel.’ And I like outreach activities a lot, whether it’s Picnic Day, or Ag and Environmental Sciences Field Day or taking animals to the California State Fair.

Have a favorite place on campus?

Probably around the feed lot because there is always a lot going on there, from research to teaching to maintenance work. That’s kind of the hub of what we do.

Read a good book recently?

The Shack, (by William P. Young). It’s different. I’d like to read it again.

What kind of music do you enjoy?

I’m a huge Jimmy Buffet fan, but not a die-hard ‘parrot head.’

Have a guilty pleasure?

Riding a loud motorcycle and a fast mule. I have a Harley and I just like to get out and ride. I also like to ride my mules. They’re fast, racing mules.

What would we always find in your refrigerator?

Surprisingly, the ingredients for a big salad. A lot of people probably think I’m a hard-core carnivore. I am, but I have to have my salad.