LITTLE ROCK — From her first days working on a family farm, Kirsten Midkiff knew she wanted to find a life in agriculture.
“Livestock judging and working with animals has always been a big part of my life,” she said. “I came from a background where we had cattle as well as sheep, so the health aspect of it always played a huge role in what we did.”
Midkiff, a native of Fullerton, Louisiana and now the extension animal health and wellbeing specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, began learning the ropes of livestock production from her parents, who worked at a veterinarian clinic in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
NEW ARRIVAL — Kirsten Midkiff is a new animal health and wellbeing specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. (Division of Agriculture photo.)
“I learned a lot from them about animal health, management, and various aspects of production,” Midkiff said. Her and her parents’ involvement with multiple organizations — the Louisiana Cattlemen’s Association, 4-H and FFA — broadened her understanding of livestock agriculture’s impact at an early age.
Midkiff became increasingly involved in livestock judging as a youth. After completing high school in 2014, she pursued an associate’s degree at Clarendon College in Texas, where she was a member of their livestock judging team. In 2016, she transferred to Mississippi State University, where she completed her bachelor’s degree in animal and dairy science in 2018.
Midkiff completed a master’s degree in agricultural science with a minor in agricultural economics at Mississippi State and served as assistant coach to MSU’s livestock judging team. Afterward, she relocated to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where she completed her Ph.D. in beef cattle health, nutrition, and physiology. Between 2021 and 2024, she was routinely involved in research and extension activities, working under the guidance of Jeremy Powell and Elizabeth Kegley, both professors for the Division of Agriculture, and Michael Looper, animal science department head for the Division of Agriculture.
When the position of extension animal health and wellbeing specialist opened up, the opportunity couldn’t be ignored.
“I had several conversations with Dr. Powell, and he encouraged me to apply for it,” Midkiff said. “We agreed that it would be a good fit for the work I want to do and my goals for the future.
Midkiff said one of her primary goals is to revitalize several extension programs that have gone dormant in recent years, including a statewide 4-H veterinary science program.
“There have been several counties that are really involved with that,” she said. “I’m wanting to get it active on a state level, especially since we’re going to be getting a new vet school, possibly two, in the near future.
“I really want to make an effort to get more veterinary professionals back in the state,” she said. “I think that’s going to be one of my biggest pushes over the next few years — advocating for those students, advocating for our vet programs and for our existing veterinarians.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.