Research

Crops and Plants

Most of the 2,006 acres at the farm produce feed for the dairy herd. In turn, the fields are fertilized by manure from the dairy herd in a natural cycle. Large fields are also used to study cropping systems and manure management. Small research plots are used to grow lesser amounts of forages for use in various grazing, agronomic, and feeding experiments.

  • 541acres corn for grain and silage
  • 340acres alfalfa
  • 310acres soybeans
  • 235acres pasture
  • 90acres winter wheat
  • 40acres small research plots
  • 450acres woodlands
  • Total= 2,006 acres
Research plot milking
Research plots are used to study new plant varieties and managment techniques on a small scale. Cows are milked in a double-8 herringbone parlor.

 

The Herd

There are about 350 lactating cows on the farm. Livestock housing includes both tie-stall and free-stall barns which serve different research needs and represent facilities being used in the industry. Cows are milked in a double-8 herringbone parlor with automatic take-offs and individual milk weights. Cows in free-stall barns are fed from a TMR (total mixed ration) wagon. In the tie-stall barns, several small TMR carts are used to mix and deliver research diets to selected cows. The farm raises all of its replacements. Newborn calves are housed in calf hutches and moved to a calf barn at eight weeks. At four-five months of age, heifers are moved to a free-stall barn where they remain until confirmed pregnant. Pregnant heifers are pastured in the summer and kept on a bedded pack in the winter.

Current milk production

  • 2x rolling herd average (as of July 2009)
  • 26,881 lbs. milk
  • 3.69% fat
  • 3.06% Protein
free-stall barn calves hutches
More than half of the herd is housed and fed in this free-stall barn. Calves are housed in 54 hutches, the healthiest way to raise newborns.

 

 

Research Efforts

At any given time there may be 15–25 different research projects being conducted at the farm. The research falls into four main categories:

  1. Understanding how dairy cows digest and utilize forages;
  2. improving forages so they are better used by dairy cows;
  3. improving methods of harvesting and storing forages;
  4. and studying the impact of dairy systems on the environment to help dairy farmers know the best ways to protect the environment and efficiently recycle the nutrients in manure—from crop to cow to manure and back to the crop.
fistula sample grazing
A USDFRC research technician takes a rumen sample from a fistulated,or cannulatedcow. These cows are surgically equipped with a permanent opening that allows direct access to the rumen's contents for studies on digestibility. Grazing research at the farm includes this study to see which species of grasses are most preferred by the heifers.