Inside Iowa State

June 7, 2007

New dairy farm on schedule for October move-in

by Ed Adcock, Ag Communications

The Dairy/Animal Science Education and Discovery Facility is on schedule for completion, with staff and cows set to occupy it in October.

The $14.7 million facility is a complex of buildings that make up a modern dairy operation. The free stall, dry cow and heifer buildings, designed for cows preparing to calve and young cows, are complete except for equipment installation, said Mark Huss, facilities planning & management project manager.

Construction on the maternity/calf building for newborn calf care will begin this month. The milking center, which will house offices, a classroom, public viewing area and milking parlor; and a special needs (health care) building are about 20 percent complete.

Construction on a compost facility will begin in July. Utility site work, feed storage bunkers and a manure storage tank have been completed. Final site work will take place through September.

Maynard Hogberg, chair of the animal science department, sees two impacts on dairying in Iowa by the new complex.

"It will help grow the number of students interested in the dairy industry, either as practitioners or those who want to do research in the area," he said. "And the research and outreach at the facility will address industry issues that should be an asset to increasing the industry in the state."

The new dairy facility replaces the Ankeny farm that was about 50 years old. The Ankeny dairy farm is in a prime development area, and in 2002 the Iowa Legislature directed Iowa State to sell the property. It was sold to the city of Ankeny in 2005.

A nearly 100-year-old dairy farm on Mortensen Road near the Towers residence complex was closed in 2003 due to obsolete and outdated facilities, budget cuts and the fact it was landlocked by development.

Located on an 887-acre site three miles south of central campus, the new dairy facility will be easier for Iowa State faculty and students to reach. It also will be easier on the cows and the staff at the operation, said Leo Timms, animal science professor and extension dairy specialist. When previous farms were designed, cow comfort consisted of keeping cows warm or cool. The new facility will use natural ventilation as much as possible and mechanical additions as needed. Fans in a grid system can be moved to different positions to increase cow comfort, which has proven effective in swine operations.

Another comfort issue is surfaces and stalls for the cows. Dairy staff will test many surfaces, from mats to mattresses, to see if they cause differences in milk production or disease prevention.

Timms said the challenge was to design a dairy that could be managed and operated to be profitable while efficiently integrating research, teaching and extension activities. The new facility will allow for individual feeding, which is an essential research tool. Improvements in cow handling will increase farm efficiency when it's time to gather livestock for classes or tasks such as treating them for disorders.

"[The new complex] will help grow the number of students interested in the dairy industry, either as practitioners or those who want to do research in the area. And the research and outreach at the facility will address industry issues that should be an asset to increasing the industry in the state."

Maynard Hogberg, chair of animal science