East Lansing, Michigan.At Michigan State University, dozens of dairy cattle were on the move on Monday.
The East Lansing institution claims that the $75 million Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center, where about 80 cows now reside, will enable agriculture, veterinary, and other students to gain knowledge on a state-of-the-art farm that can imitate the most advanced operations on the planet.
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It was referred to as a 21st century cattle drive by George Smith, the head of Michigan State’s AgBioResearch department. Crews used whistles, claps, and cries to herd the animals as they set up a fence between the two buildings.
On Tuesday, it is anticipated that the remaining 180 cows will be herded to the new structure.
According to Smith, Michigan’s dairy industry is the top contributor to the state’s agricultural economy and produces more milk per cow than any other in the country.
The dairy farm was built in the 1960s and had so little space and equipment that researchers have up to two years of unfinished work on financed projects. The current complex is much larger.
250 dairy cattle are currently housed in the current MSU Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center, which also serves as a research facility for faculty members in the veterinary medicine and agriculture and natural resources colleges. The 165,000-square-foot cattle barn at the new site will increase the number of the herd to 680, hence expanding research capability. In the upcoming weeks and months, the cows will come in groups. Modernized barns, feed facilities, milking parlors, and labs are also part of the new area.
According to Kim Dodd, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, our previous building lacked the technological capacity to prepare our students for what dairy cattle production looks like today and what they should anticipate upon graduation.
The launch of the new digs coincides with the elimination of dairy cattle teaching programs at other land grant universities in the agricultural Midwest.
We are investing in the future of the dairy business in Michigan because it is so important to the state’s agricultural economy, whereas other institutions are disinvesting in dairy programs, Smith stated.
Alumni, donors, and dairy industry partners contributed the remaining funds for the 18-month initiative, which was initially funded by a $30 million investment from the State of Michigan.
Smith remarked, “Who doesn’t love ice cream?” New opportunities in the realm of dairy science are sure to thrill anyone.
