Upgrades At Knott Dairy Good News For Cows, Students

If you’re a fan of ice cream or Cougar Gold cheese, this is the kind of news you’ve been waiting for.  Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe is getting a boost thanks to a $10 million upgrade at Washington State University’s Knott Dairy Center.  School officials said with modernized facilities for the 180 cows, students will gain hands-on experience in a state-of-the-art environment.  Improvements to the facility outside of Pullman will include better drainage, enhanced manure management, a new barn for various cow groups, and upgraded handling facilities.

“This funding reinforces the idea that WSU, as Washington’s land-grant university, has great value to the state,” said Gordon Murdoch, chair of WSU’s Department of Animal Sciences. “Having a dairy only seven miles from the Pullman campus gives us great teaching and research opportunities and the upgrades will boost both of those areas tremendously.”

WSU said these changes ensure a healthier, safer space for both cows and staff, while also attracting more research funding to benefit Washington’s dairy industry.

“The dairy was built decades ago with a system that barely met the needs then,” Murdoch continued.  “The new system is appropriate for our size and will lead to a cleaner area. That’s hugely beneficial to our animals and staff.”

“The dairy center will resemble more of what a modern dairy farm looks like than what we have been working with,” said Marcos Marcondes, an assistant professor in Animal Sciences.  “Students will get experience doing work that is actually done on dairies, which is more automated and less hands-on than what we had.” 

That experience, he noted,will stand out on students’ resumes as they apply for jobs or graduate schools.

“You have to have confidence in what you are doing and this farm gives students hands-on experience to build up that confidence,” Marcondes said. “And now that experience will resemble what they will see in the real world.”

In addition, future plans for Knott Dairy include robotic milkers and automated systems to elevate animal welfare and efficiency.

“Dairy is a huge industry in Washington, the second largest agriculture industry,” Murdoch said. “We’re here to serve that industry and train the next generation of dairy leaders, but also test and do research on new technologies and opportunities.”

"Without investment in the WSU dairy, industry begins to leave the program behind and can’t rely on the university for necessary research.  The inspirational dairy will put us at the forefront of dairy technology and allow us to serve the industry far into the future,” Murdoch said.

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