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For more information contact mark.a.kinders@uwrf.edu or brenda.k.bredahl@uwrf.edu.

UWRF to Break Ground on Dairy Learning Center

OCT. 11, 2006--UW-River Falls will break ground on its new Dairy Learning Center on its Mann Valley Farm on Friday, Oct. 20.

The ceremony is set for 2 p.m. at the farm, which is located on St. Croix County Road MM, northwest of River Falls.

The $9.3 million complex is expected to be completed by the summer of 2007 and will replace the aging dairy operation constructed in the 1950s, located at Laboratory Farm No. 1 on the main campus.

The complex will feature a lactating cow barn, special needs barn, milking center, calf barn, heifer barn, hay barn, feed shed, and machine shed.

It will include:

·An environmentally friendly composted bedding housing system for 100 lactating cows.
·A BouMatic double-6 herringbone parlor with a StepMetrix automated lameness detection system.
·Research bays with Calan gates, allowing the herd to be split into groups for nutrition trials.
·Two 25-student classrooms attached to the milking center, which can be expanded for industry-based workshops and meetings.
·Confinement and pasture-based management systems.

UWRF has one of the largest undergraduate dairy science majors in the nation. For more information, contact the College of Agriculture, Food & Environmental Sciences at 715-425-3841.

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Last updated: Saturday, 14-Mar-2009 19:12:22 CDT