Pictured: Michelle Farner, director of dairy production at UWRF, explains a piece of equipment during an Oct. 4 tour of the facility with UW System officials. Julian Emerson/UWRF photo.
The grand opening for the Wuethrich Family/Grassland Dairy Center of Excellence at the UW-River Falls will happen on Oct. 20. The project has been a decade in the making.
The remodeled 6,000 square-foot dairy pilot plant is where students will get high-level, hands-on training to work in the dairy industry. The name changed to honor the Wuethrich Family Foundation and Grassland Dairy Products, Inc. after a $1 million donation to the plant.
Officials with UW-River Falls, UW System, the agriculture industry and others will celebrate the remodeled dairy pilot plant beginning at 11 a.m. at the dairy plant in the Agricultural Science building on campus. A ribbon cutting is at 11:30 a.m., followed by tours of the facility and a reception beginning at noon.
All are welcome. Register: https://events.idonate.com/grandopening
“This facility will enable high-quality learning that will allow our students and employees in the dairy industry to learn using the most up-to-date technology,” says Michelle Farner, director of dairy production at UW-River Falls. “It is exciting to think that we will be helping our students and the dairy industry in this state.”
Five years ago, UW-River Falls halted its dairy pilot plant because its equipment had become outdated. Plans had started previously to remodel the plant. UW-River Falls got strong backing and funding from the agriculture industry and others to make the new facility a reality.
Nearly two dozen organizations have donated $5.2 million toward the dairy plant. State funding picked up the remainder of the nearly $9 million total cost. That high amount of private funding is unusual for a building project in Wisconsin’s university system, and it shows that the dairy industry is invested in making the plant a success, Farner says.
Last week UW System Board of Regents and other UW System officials toured the plant. Final work is being completed on the plant where students and dairy industry employees will soon be training.
“That will be the exciting part, when our students and others can start working in this space,” Farner says.
