On Saturday, June 14th, the SVF Foundation will be opening its doors to the public for their annual visitors day celebration.  The event will take place on their 35-acre property near Fort Adams State Park from 9am to 3pm.  Visitors will be able to take self guided tours through the historic Swiss Village, view the state of the art SVF facilities and meet the laboratory, veterinary and animal care staff, attend cryogenics and sheep sheering demonstrations, visit Chip, a Tennessee myotonic goat born from a frozen embryo, learn about endangered breeds of livestock and shop farm products and heritage breed meat.

The SVF Foundation’s goal is to preserve rare and endangered breeds of livestock.  They focus on genetic preservation of cattle, sheep, and goats.  They store semen, embryos, cells and blood in liquid nitrogen until those genetics are needed for agricultural use. This program was a 20 year project focused on preserving endangered breeds.  On average, 1 breed goes extinct per month, and the SVF Foundation is working to eliminate that.  There is no other program like this one. They improve the environment around the animals and keep the genetics ready for when they are needed.