AMES, Iowa — To celebrate dairy month the Iowa State University Dairy Farm will host its ninth annual open house June 9 from 6 - 11 a.m.
The event is open to the public. Tours will be given every 30 minutes beginning at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 10:30 a.m. Stops include the milking parlor, milk house and dairy barns.
Visitors also can sample free dairy products while learning about commodity group activities in the Ag Discovery Center. The open house includes modern technology demonstrations and best practices in animal care, product quality, safety and environmental stewardship.
The ISU Dairy Farm is located on 887 acres at 52470 260th St. in Ames, three miles south of central campus. To get to the farm from Highway 30 take exit 146 to University Boulevard and go south one mile and turn right on 260th Street.
The farm has 400 milking cows. Each cow produces around 84 pounds of milk a day. The dairy farm opened in 2007 and provides teaching, research and outreach opportunities.
Iowa ranks 12th in the nation in the number of pounds of milk produced, cow numbers and milk produced per cow. Iowa is home to approximately 1,400 dairy farms, which include 216,000 dairy cows and 200 dairy goat farms. Each cow provides $23,445 in economic activity to local communities for a combined annual economic impact of $4.9 billion in Iowa according to the Iowa State Dairy Association.
Sponsors of the June Dairy Month Celebration include Iowa State University, Midwest Dairy Association, Hy-Vee, Iowa State Dairy Association, Western Iowa Dairy Alliance, Swiss Valley Farms, the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation and Hiland-Dairy Foods.
Visitors who have recently returned from a trip abroad are asked to wait five days before visiting farms with animals. If you have visited another farm you should change clothing and footwear before visiting the dairy farm and refrain from bringing any food items to the farm.
For more information or for planning private tours contact the farm manager at https://www.ans.iastate.edu/farms/visiting-farm.