September 5, 2017 at 3:32 p.m.
Dairy herd at UW-Madison back home after 11 months
Renovated dairy cattle center has larger stalls, modern milking parlor
Thanks to a $3.5 million renovation to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Dairy Center, these Holstein cows have a modern, more comfortable home. The renovation included enlarging the 84 stalls and replacing the 57-year-old milking parlor.<br /><!-- 1upcrlf --><br /><!-- 1upcrlf -->Photo courtesy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Renovating the 56-year-old building that's tucked back at 1815 Linden Dr., right smack-dab in Madison, cost $3.5 million. The makeover of the facility that can house 84 cows was long overdue, according to Mike Peters, the dairy herd's manager.
Improving cow comfort was one of the main goals. "Everything has been brought up to 2013 standards, as far as cow comfort," he said.
The changes included enlarging the stalls to fit today's larger Holstein cows. Ventilation is "greatly improved. Hopefully, that will help them sustain milk production in the hot weather of summer," Peters said.
What was one barn had more or less been made into two barns. The change, according to Peters, offers a better visitor experience. The change also separates research areas.
Part of the change placed some stalls nearer feed mixing area. That, said Peters, makes feeding more efficient.
One particularly outdated aspect of the dairy cattle center was its milking parlor. It had been essentially unchanged since 1956.
It was a one-sided, four-cow, side-opening parlor. Perhaps state of the art 57 years ago, the parlor proved cumbersome for cows to negotiate.
"The cows had to go up some steps, make a right-hand turn, walk into the stalls - which were really too small for them - and be milked there," Peters said. "Then they had to make another 90-degree bend to leave the parlor, and then go down steps again."
Now, cows walk straight through. They still need to make a wide turn to exit, but the steps are history. "Modern cow movement has been incorporated," Peters said.
The 1956 milking parlor used Boumatic equipment, as does the new one. The company donated the double-six herringbone parlor.
Two other companies made donations, too. AniMat contributed rubber mats for the cow milking platforms. Promat donated mats for the stalls.
The dairy center herd is averaging 97 pounds of milk per cow per day, on twice-a-day milking, said Peters. But milk production is not the primary goal.
Instead, the herd is used mainly for teaching and research. The Holsteins help UW Farm and Industry Short Course students, four-year undergraduates, and graduate students gain hands-on experience with dairy cows.
The research aspect covers everything from cow physiology to animal welfare and animal behavior. According to UW-Madison, its dairy science department has $6.64 million in "active, sponsored research projects." That works out to roughly $550,000 per scientist.
Besides the barn and milking parlor, the dairy cattle center has dormitories and classrooms upstairs. The three students who tend the herd live on site. There's also a lab and lecture hall.
The university opened the dairy cattle center to the general public March 9. Peters estimated that more than 800 turned out to tour the renovated facility.
"I couldn't be happier with what we've done to make the facility better for cows and people and the people working with them," Peters said. "We're very proud of what we do with animal care at the university. This new facility allows us to provide the care and welfare for the animals that we want to provide."[[In-content Ad]]
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