Cows ‘moo-ve’ into new facility

Part of Michigan State University’s dairy cattle herd “moo-ved” into its new home yesterday — the new $75 million Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center.

A temporary fence was installed between the new and the old centers to allow the cows to walk to their new digs.

“It was a 21^st-century cattle drive,” said George Smith, director of AgBioResearch, which supports researchers and research infrastructure across seven MSU colleges.

The new dairy farm replaces the old one, which was built in the 1960s and was so limited in space, cattle and equipment that researchers have put funded research projects on hold, in some cases as long as two years. The new 165,000-square-foot dairy farm allows MSU to modernize and triple the size of the existing dairy farm to house up to 680 cows, up from the existing herd of 260. The new cows will be brought into the facility in small groups over the next month.

Upgrades at the new Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center will bring MSU’s facilities into the 21^st century – increasing research output and applicability, training the next generation of industry leaders and addressing the dynamic needs of Michigan’s dairy producers.

“The new facility brings MSU in line with industry standards and will allow researchers to utilize the latest technology in dairy science,” said Smith. “Input from the industry directly guides the focus of our research efforts, ensuring that Michigan producers’ most urgent needs are addressed through applied research and outreach.”

Researchers and students from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine will work in the facility.

“Our old facility didn’t have the technical capabilities to be able to train our students for what to expect when they graduated, what dairy cattle production looks like today,” said Kim Dodd, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Spartan dairy students will be training for the future, on a modern farm, equipped to replicate even the most high-tech operations in the world today. It’s also proof of MSU’s commitment to advancing its dairy cattle teaching programs while some universities across the country are eliminating their programs.

Michigan is home to more than 850 dairy farms and approximately 436,000 dairy cows. Michigan’s dairy industry contributes $15.7 billion to the state’s economy (No. 6 nationally) and the state leads the nation in production efficiency – ranking No. 1 nationally in milk-per-cow production.

Because dairy is so important to the state, the state of Michigan provided a $30 million investment to initially fund the project. Continued private support from alumni, donors and stakeholders in the dairy industry has supported the effort and remains essential to fully realize the farm’s long-term vision for programming and research.

Part of MSU’s vision for the future of dairy is based on a circular operation that helps producers minimize the environmental footprint of dairy farming while maximizing the profit of operations of all sizes. Leveraging its location adjacent to the MSU Anaerobic Digestion Research and Education Center, the Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center will operate using a circular approach in which waste products are broken down into renewable sources of fertilizer, water and energy that are directed back into the operation.

“There is nothing like this facility, at this scale, anywhere in the world,” said College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dean Matt Daum. “This farm is indicative of MSU’s position as a global leader in dairy research and education and serves as a showcase facility for MSU’s land-grant mission.”