12:01 p.m., Dec. 2, 2008----The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources has recently completed upgrades to the University of Delaware Dairy in an effort to better serve students, regional farmers and the environment.

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On Nov. 3, project partners, donors, dairy farmers and industry professionals were invited to an open house to celebrate major renovations completed in early 2008, including the installation of a dairy manure recycling and composting system, and a new, double-eight milking parlor.

The University of Delaware and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) take pride in serving as a land-grant institution with a farm located, unlike many others, immediately on its main campus.

The UD Dairy is a dominant feature of the farm with approximately 100 dairy cows and 120 acres of croplands used to grow corn and alfalfa to feed them. It is pivotal to serving 270 undergrads with hands-on education in livestock production systems, and critical to CANR's outreach mission as a land-grant college since dairy revenues are second only to poultry in Delaware's food-based livestock sales.

“To continue serving students and regional farmers, it became clear that updates were needed,” said Robin Morgan, dean of the college. “Our dairy parlor was more than 30 years old and no longer represented current technology. Likewise, we want the college to set an example in agricultural environmental protection and saw that improvements in manure management were needed.”

With $250,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) through its Conservation Innovation Grant program and $211,000 in state cost share through the New Castle Conservation District, as well as matching funds in excess of $725,000 from the college, an extensive project was initiated to improve manure and runoff management.

The sand/manure separation unit cleans and recycles sand for bedding in the freestall barns. The organic matter from the manure is composted and exported from the farm for use by local farmers, and the landscape and nursery industries. The liquid portion of the manure is stored in a large holding tank until it can be applied, at the correct time of year, to the forage and silage crops grown on the farm as feed sources for the dairy cows.

Improvements were also made to the management of stormwater runoff from the farm.

During the open house, special thanks were given to the following individuals and organizations for their assistance with this project:

• McLanahan Corp., which was contracted to design and install a manure separation and storage system. Andrew Wedel, who graduated from the college with a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering, oversaw the project for McLanahan as an agricultural engineer and division manager.

• Rich Gorlich, NRCS's engineer in Delaware, and another UD agriculture engineering alumnus, provided guidance in obtaining Conservation Innovation Grant funding, oversaw quality control of structural aspects, and designed a guttering system to redirect clean roof water into pastures for infiltration.

• Marianne Hardesty, conservation planner with NRCS, and UD plant science alumna, provided funding guidance and helped the college secure state cost share funding. Les Stillson, the state operations manager for Delaware NRCS, and Kevin Donnelly, the New Castle County Conservation District coordinator, also provided assistance.

Morgan said, “Three of our project partners got their feet wet as undergraduates here in the college. We're so happy to have our alumni back working with us.”

According to Morgan, at the time when officials began thinking about renovations to the farm, it was clear that the milking parlor was in desperate need of replacement to improve milking efficiency, teaching, and outreach.

“We first sought and received $400,000 from Unidel. The college supplemented this grant with $382,000. Additional funding was needed, however, and we are grateful to private contributors who donated an additional $58,000 to help make this project happen. We have additional funds pledged to continue our work,” said Morgan.

The new parlor has increased the efficiency of the UD Dairy by reducing the amount of time needed for milking, freeing up workers' time for other responsibilities. For teaching purposes, the new parlor exposes students to the real world dairy industry while they are still at UD.

Morgan recognized the following donors and partners for their contributions: platinum level, Lallemand Animal Nutrition, based in Milwaukee; silver level, Biological Technologies Consulting, located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada; bronze level, Dow AgroSciences (Mycogen Seeds) of Indianapolis, Ajinomoto USA of Eddyville, Iowa, and Ecosyl Products of Stokesley, United Kingdom, and Joliet, Ill. She also recognized Triple H Construction and its vice president, Jeff Ainsle, who oversaw the design and completion of the parlor, and BouMatic for milking equipment.

For their assistance in bringing these two projects to fruition, Morgan also recognized the efforts of Limin Kung, professor of ruminant nutrition; Tom Sims, associate dean for research and education and the T.A. Baker Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry; Jenny McDermott, the college's facilities manager; and Richard Morris, the dairy herdsman.

Tours of the dairy farm and a luncheon, complete with ice cream made with milk from the UD cows, followed the formal presentation.

Article by Katy O'Connell
Photographs by Danielle Quigley