Institute for Agriculture
Teams & Organizations
The BVU agricultural experience is more than classrooms and field experiences! Blow off some steam and have some fun with friends in the Ag Club and our rodeo and livestock showing teams. They are a great way to have outdoor fun with a focus on agriculture. Whether you are a farm or ranch kid who wants to continue your favorite activities, or someone who has never been in a barn... we have the perfect opportunity for you.
Located in the heart of Midwest ag country, you’ll have opportunities at BVU that you can’t find at any other institution. Institute for Agriculture
Riding, tying, roping
Rodeo Team
Our rodeo team is growing and ready for you to ride with the Beavers! Rodeo is one of the University's newest team sports, competing in goat-tying, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and more.
The team competes in the Great Plains Region of the National Collegiate Rodeo Association. Practice and house your horses at the Barnes Ranch, located near Storm Lake in the Little Sioux River Valley. The ranch provides quality stock, all the way to the professional level. Upgrade your rodeo skills with BVU!
Livestock Showing Team
Get hands-on animal experience working with several livestock species, available to students of any major! Pre-Vet students can count time spent working with the livestock as animal experience hours for vet school applications. Agricultural Education majors get experience raising market animals, just like their future students!
Work with beef or swine—bring your own animal, or show a BVU animal. Prepare your livestock for competitions throughout the Midwest. Along with animal experience and fun events, you will meet students with similar interests and build lifelong friendships.
Want to continue being involved in livestock showing, but do not have the time to invest every day? The BVU Livestock Show Team welcomes seasoned show veterans to serve as mentors to local youth in show competitions. By sharing your experience and knowledge, you help others excel and grow highly sought skills in today’s job market.
Ag Club
The BVU Ag Club promotes engagement of students through fellowship and camaraderie. The group seeks to enrich agricultural education at BVU by providing unique learning opportunities outside the classroom.
Throughout the year, the BVU Ag Club group engages in activities such as relaxing campfires on the farm; Feed-the-Farmer outreach; Buenafication Day, a longtime BVU tradition of giving back to the community; visiting with those in the ag industry, among others. These activities serve to build our community, positively impact the world around us, and develop leadership abilities within club members.
Membership in the BVU Ag Club is open to all students with an interest in agriculture, even if you aren't majoring in ag!
Archery & Clay Target Sports
Compete against other colleges and universities across Iowa and the Midwest as a member of our archery or clay target sports team. Our clubs combine marksmanship, firearm safety, and competition. We welcome participants from all skill levels to join our teams.
On our archery team, you'll develop fundamental skills and fine tune your marksmanship by competing on individual and team levels in USA Collegiate Archery events and other regional competitions. We welcome Compound, Recurve, Long Bow, and Genesis Bow competitors to our team.
Take your accuracy and skill to the next level as a member of our clay target sports team. Compete in National Collegiate Shooting Sports Athletic Association (NCSSAA) and Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) events.
Marty Barnes
Rodeo Coach
Marty Barnes serves as Coach of the Buena Vista University rodeo team. Since 1976, he has been a member/contestant on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit, earning dozens of awards as a competitor and contributor. He was also the First Frontier Circuit Champion All-Around Cowboy in 1999.
Mike Christen
Livestock Showing Coach
In 2008, Mike started the Circle C Cattle Company on his family farm north of Storm Lake. Mike's focus is raising club calves, with a cow herd that includes pure bred lines of Angus, Simmental and Shorthorns. The focus of Mike’s management is to optimize herd genetics by emphasizing confirmation and structural soundness.
Request Information
Explore an Agriculture Degree
Find out more about earning bachelor’s degrees in agriculture with BVU.
