The ISU Dairy Farm is located on 27 acres at 52470 260th St. in Ames, three miles south of central campus. There are close to 400 dairy cows and another 400 heifers and around 35 students are employed to help operate the farm.
The dairy farm opened in the fall of 2007 and currently ship 29,000 lbs of milk each day to Prairie Farms. The milk can be found in your local Midwest grocery store. Sustainable farming is practiced at all of our farms. This starts at the dairy farm with the manure handling system. The manure handling system separates the solids which are used for animal bedding and compost used on campus, and the liquid portion is stored in a 2 million gallon tank that is emptied a couple times a year. The contents are used as fertilizer for ISU farms.
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ISU Dairy - March 16, 2023
2x milking (6:00 am, 6:00 pm)
419 cows in milk:
377 Holstein (90.0%), 26 Jersey (6.2%), 16 Ho-Je (3.8%)
Lactation:
194 1st (46.9%), 94 2nd (21.9%), 131 3rd and later (31.3%)
Last test 3-7-23:
79.6 lbs/cow (9.3 gal/cow @8.6 lbs/gal, or 35.0 liter/cow @ 2.272 lbs/liter)
4.2% fat; 3.3% protein
85.7 std 150d milk
Rolling herd average:
25,207 lbs milk (2931.0 gallons, 11,094.6 liters)
1042 lbs fat; 856 lbs protein
Reproduction:
2.6 spc; 147 days open
14.0 mo calving interval
Animals:
443 cows; 429 heifers
- Learn about the 2022 ISU Dairy Farm Open House. Mark your calendar for the 2023 ISU Dairy Farm Open House on June 2, 2023.
- Click here for more information on our dairy facilities (pdf)
Location
52470 260th Street, Ames, Iowa 50014
