UW Dedicates New Dairy Research Center
Facility Cost $5.1 Million
Updated: 8:36 pm CDT July 30, 2008
MADISON, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin opened a new building meant to spur a major Wisconsin industry.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportThe facility is about 30 minutes north of Madison near Arlington. It's a big step forward for dairy research.Having a dairy facility on the UW agricultural research station is nothing new, but that was the problem. The facilities were built in the 1970s, leaving them out of date.The dairy science department at the UW leaps forward in hopes of being the future of the industry.This is the shape of modern dairy in Wisconsin -- hundreds of free stalls -- multiple milking units and while this barn will function as a commercial dairy, it's really the home for research, WISC-TV reported.That the barn functions as any other state farm would is important because research the dairy science department does can apply directly to farmers."Because the industry is changing so rapidly, there's always new and exciting things that we need to study and to answer questions for the dairy industry," said Ric Grummer, chair of the dairy science department at the UW. "So it becomes very important that we have facilities that mirror the types of facilities that are being built and propagated in Wisconsin."But as manager Mike Peters showed visitors at the dedication of the building, the features here are more high-tech inside the $5.1 million building."We're able to take small pens and put each cows in each pen," said Peters.Computer-driven feeding and individual stalls will accommodate complex herd health experiments. A complex manure, water and sand recycling system keeps sand out of valuable prairie ground."This manure will make its way into a drop, we use recycled water to pump that manure down through a lane where the sand settles out and we're able to reclaim that sand and reuse it," said Peters. "We want to get good research outcomes; you have to have comfortable cows to get good research outcomes."And a complex design making sure cows are kept cool. But the UW doesn't just want this to be a place for happy cows - - it wants to be the home for the cutting-edge of dairy."So this facility really represents the best kind of partnership between the dairy industry, and the college's response to their challenge to us to bring forward the kind of research they need to make the best decisions," said Molly Jahn, the dean of the College of Agriculture.Some of the research projects already in the pipeline work to make reproduction of dairy cows more efficient, WISC-TV reported.
VIDEO: Watch The ReportThe facility is about 30 minutes north of Madison near Arlington. It's a big step forward for dairy research.Having a dairy facility on the UW agricultural research station is nothing new, but that was the problem. The facilities were built in the 1970s, leaving them out of date.The dairy science department at the UW leaps forward in hopes of being the future of the industry.This is the shape of modern dairy in Wisconsin -- hundreds of free stalls -- multiple milking units and while this barn will function as a commercial dairy, it's really the home for research, WISC-TV reported.That the barn functions as any other state farm would is important because research the dairy science department does can apply directly to farmers."Because the industry is changing so rapidly, there's always new and exciting things that we need to study and to answer questions for the dairy industry," said Ric Grummer, chair of the dairy science department at the UW. "So it becomes very important that we have facilities that mirror the types of facilities that are being built and propagated in Wisconsin."But as manager Mike Peters showed visitors at the dedication of the building, the features here are more high-tech inside the $5.1 million building."We're able to take small pens and put each cows in each pen," said Peters.Computer-driven feeding and individual stalls will accommodate complex herd health experiments. A complex manure, water and sand recycling system keeps sand out of valuable prairie ground."This manure will make its way into a drop, we use recycled water to pump that manure down through a lane where the sand settles out and we're able to reclaim that sand and reuse it," said Peters. "We want to get good research outcomes; you have to have comfortable cows to get good research outcomes."And a complex design making sure cows are kept cool. But the UW doesn't just want this to be a place for happy cows - - it wants to be the home for the cutting-edge of dairy."So this facility really represents the best kind of partnership between the dairy industry, and the college's response to their challenge to us to bring forward the kind of research they need to make the best decisions," said Molly Jahn, the dean of the College of Agriculture.Some of the research projects already in the pipeline work to make reproduction of dairy cows more efficient, WISC-TV reported.Copyright 2008 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
