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BACKGROUNDER: ISU’s Plans for a State-of-the-Art Dairy Facility

• The new dairy facility will be located three miles south of ISU’s central campus or two miles south of Highway 30.
  
  
• The dairy facility will anchor the southern border of an “Animal Science Corridor” that includes seven other ISU livestock teaching and research operations — swine teaching, swine research, beef, sheep, poultry, horse and the student-managed Ag450 Farm (swine).
  
  
• A complex of buildings will be constructed on 27 acres. Much of the 887-acre site will raise crops to support the new facility.
  
  
• The facility will house 450 milking cows (about 100 more than the Ankeny dairy operation) plus a similar number of heifers, dry cows and calves.
  
  
• Several buildings are planned for construction. The main structures include:
  - a 450-cow barn
  - a dairy center that will include a milking parlor, public viewing area and teaching/meeting rooms
  - a special needs/hospital barn for animal health care
  - a dry cow/transition barn for cows preparing to calve
  - a maternity barn for newborn calf care
  - a calf research barn for nutritional and husbandry research
  - two heifer barns for young cows
  - a metabolism barn for research studies
  - a residence for a manager who will live on site
  
  
• Teaching programs will include courses, labs and research projects for undergraduate and graduate students in agriculture and veterinary medicine.
  
  
• Research will be conducted on cow and calf nutrition, genetics and breeding, health issues and herd management. Extension and outreach will target dairy producers, school children and other visitors who want to learn more about dairy science.
  
  
• The property includes a three-acre tract of native prairie that will be studied by other ISU students and faculty.
  
  
• Animal Science Dairy Program
  

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