How the Penn State Dairy Barns Help Bridge a Gap Between Food Producers, Consumers

Monday, May 29, 2023

In today’s world, there is a growing gap between the people who produce the world’s food and the consumer. Many consumers have no idea where their food comes from or how it is produced.

The Penn State Dairy Barns, operated by the College of Agricultural Sciences, help to bridge that gap both by educating students in the college about dairy management and by providing tours to many outside groups interested in learning about dairy farming.

Additionally, the facilities are used to conduct research to better understand the relationships among dairy cow performance, management, nutrition, behavior and the environment. Information from these studies then is disseminated to farmers through Penn State Extension to benefit dairy farm management throughout Pennsylvania.

The Dairy Research and Education Center maintains a herd of 240 milking Holstein dairy cows. The total herd size is around 475 animals including calves, growing heifers and dry cows. On average, the milking cows produce about 10 gallons of milk per day per cow. The milk from the dairy is used by Penn State’s Berkey Creamery, and the excess is shipped to Land O’ Lakes.

The dairy employs a staff of 10 full-time employees and approximately 20 undergraduate students each semester. These employees are the backbone of the operation and keep things running for 16 hours each day, 365 days a year.

Our student employees come from many types of experience levels and backgrounds. They can gain experience in animal handling, milking, calf care and feeding, animal health and equipment operation. Some students have grown up on a family farm, and some have never touched a cow before. Working at the dairy is an asset to any resume as it requires working early mornings, late nights and in bad weather.

Taking care of animals requires a strong dedication and work ethic. Many of our students work here to get large animal experience for veterinary school. A limited number of students live in apartments located on the dairy farm and exchange work hours for housing.

Source: yahoo.com