Yes, those were the days, my friend, of chickens in the barnyard, a few pigs in a pen and "a cow or two" in the barn. Today in animal agriculture, we have production efficiencies and biotechnology to help feed a hungry world.

Those two extremes are seen in images in a UC Davis-produced video that received the most votes in a contest sponsored by the American Society of Animal Science.

Alison Van Eenennaam, Cooperative Extension specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology, Department of Animal Science, wrote and directed the video, titled Were Those the Days, My Friend?

Kevin Au, undergraduate, and Kristina Weber, graduate student, gathered and annotated the images. Ramona Swenson sang new lyrics to  the tune of Those Were the Days.

In winning the society's first-ever video competition, the team wins a $1,250 prize, scheduled for presentation in June during the society’s annual meeting.