Newswise — This fall, as Middle Tennessee State University’s School of Agribusiness and Agriscience begins a second century of educating undergraduate and graduate students, its dairy farm will undergo a ‘moo’-ving experience.
Following a summer-long wait to move into the new, $4,375,000 dairy and then sometime after a special upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony for the ultramodern facility on Thursday, Sept. 15, the herd of 70 milking cows will be transported 17 miles across Murfreesboro, Tenn. (pop. 108,755), to a new home.
Two trips across town will require for four trucks with cattle-hauling trailers. The cattle will be hauled from the 282-acre old dairy to their new 435-acre home about six miles east of campus.
MTSU Farm Lab and Dairy Farm officials wanted to make the transition in late spring or early summer, but the new dairy was not ready mostly because of bad weather and unfinished roads. Also, summer’s sizzling temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s have been hard on the herd.
Simply put, the welfare of the dairy herd was and is the No. 1 priority.
“There is so much concern about animal welfare,” says Farm Lab Director Tim Redd. “Animals are the primary thing we’re thinking about. We want it to be as easy and less stressful … on the milking herd.”
Once temperatures become more moderate and a date and time are established for the transfer, MTSU farm officials plan to soften the cows’ entry onto the haulers with sawdust. Redd also says the hope is the cows will just step — and not have to jump up — on and off the haulers.
With cows being creatures of habit, “this (change of venue) will be a different routine,” Redd says. “It will take about seven milkings for them to understand and establish their routine.”
The dairy, which cost $2.7 million, is a “double-8 parallel parlor equipped with state-of-the-art computerized equipment,” says Dr. Warren Gill, director of the ag school. Initially, it will milk about 70 cows, but the facility will be capable of expanding to 200 milking cows, adds Redd.
“We are going to make it as environmentally friendly as possible,” Gill says. “We currently are evaluating the use of geothermal technology to assist in cooling the milk and utilizing solar panels for electricity.”
The dairy includes the milking facility and equipment, free-stall barn, hay barn, grain bins, shop and storage area, feed shed, and fuel and chemical storage.
MTSU’s herd is a combination of Holstein and Jerseys, which provide all the white and extremely popular chocolate milk consumed on the MTSU campus. Redd says 3,800 pounds of milk — one-third of the MTSU Dairy’s production — is consumed on campus every week. The remaining milk is sold to the Virginia & Maryland Milk Producers Association.
About 30 students a year are hired part-time to help with MTSU Farm Lab operations, Gill says.
“This is a student-based laboratory,” Redd says. “This dairy is more than milking cows. It’s (about) breeding, health and experiential learning. We (students and staff) have a closer association with the animals, more so than with beef cattle. It’s a daily thing (with dairy cows).
A large crowd of alumni and friends and state, local and University officials are expected to attend the Sept. 15 ribbon cutting, which is part of the annual Field Day. For more information, call 615-898-2523.
This fall, the School of Agribusiness and Agriscience has 525 undergraduate majors, a 14 percent increase from 2010, and 10 graduate students. The department includes 14 full-time faculty, one Underrepresented Minority Dissertation Fellow and eight full-time staff.
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