The University of Idaho has bought land for a public visitor center, classrooms, and other facilities supporting what officials hope will be the country’s largest research dairy near Jerome.
Officials with the UofI College of Ag and Life Sciences says the property at the intersection of Interstate 84 and U.S. Highway 93 represents a significant step for the planned Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. Work on the $45 million project began over a decade ago, and the university plans to have the dairy running in 2024.
The project spans three sites – a food processing research and training facility at the College of Southern Idaho; the dairy which will hold 2,000 head of cattle in the nearby town of Rupert; and the Discovery Complex, which will be built at the Jerome property.
Other research dairies in the United States typically have no more than a couple of hundred cows, while Idaho’s average dairy is about 1,300 cows.
The size will allow students and faculty to conduct research into dairy robotics and other technologies that apply to modern, large-scale operations. (AP)
