The University of Vermont College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) sold its dairy research herd of 255 cattle to Nordic Holsteins of Charlotte on Oct. 1, Dean Tom Vogelmann announced.

The sale, along with upgrading the Paul Miller Research Farms Complex are part of a new initiative called the Dairy Center of Excellence, announced by Vogelmann in January and rolled out at the Vermont Feed Dealers and Vermont Dairy Industry Association annual conference Sept. 23. These also dovetail with university-wide “spires of excellence” directive from trustees to concentrate on areas of academic and research strength.

“All revenue from the herd will be invested in research funded through the Dairy Center of Excellence,” said Vogelmann. “This sale will have no effect on UVM’s already solid and popular education programs,” Vogelmann stressed. “UVM Farms are a focal point for our teaching and a central part of our educational mission. The 65-cow student-run CREAM herd (Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management) will continue to reside at the farm on Spear Street. What’s more, plans are on the table to build the next generation of state-of-the-art classroom and lab facilities to prepare students for the agriculture of the future. “I am pleased that we found an excellent home for the UVM herd, and will continue an already strong research relationship with Nordic Farms.”

Nordic already boards 120 UVM cows as part of an arrangement struck in 2009, and will move 135 more over the next two weeks. “My dad was a UVM College of Agriculture grad. It was a lifelong dream of his to work with the university, so I can’t think of anything that would make him happier than to see the UVM herd here,” said Nordic Holsteins’ owner Clark Hinsdale III. The addition of the UVM cattle, he said, brought his herd to about 300 and allowed him to operate more efficiently at full capacity. Hinsdale’s goal is to “make the UVM herd the core of our operation. Eventually we’ll have all registered Holsteins that will continue the UVM genetics for research.”

The Paul Miller Complex had run a significant deficit until 2009 when it boarded half of the herd at Nordic, reported Richard “Skip” Fanus, assistant dean of business operations for the College. Fanus estimated that the deficit and reduction of operating costs could gain the College more than $200,000 for on-farm research through UVM’s Dairy Center of Excellence.

Not Sustainable Nationwide

While CALS is seeing increases in enrollment, its farm and research costs and milk prices are not keeping pace. Plus state and federal support of land-grant colleges has been steadily dropping for the past 20 years.

UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel, who is also chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, told a gathering of UVM CALS leaders in June 2010, “we don’t expect a lot more money from the state of Vermont, and we know the limits of what families can contribute.”

In nearby Randolph, Vermont Technical College’s agriculture technology program is feeling the same pinch. Its dean Chris Dutton told the “Randolph Herald” newspaper that VTC would have to shut down in four to five years if it cannot stave its current $100,000-$200,000 annual deficit. Dutton is reportedly trying several strategies.

“This is the story of universities across the nation,” Fogel observes. “You do have to wonder how these great land-grant universities vital to our nation are going to be sustainable. I feel that as well as UVM is doing, and we are doing extremely well, that we are in a life-and-death struggle every day – and we’re better off than most universities."

Other land-grant universities are taking more drastic measures. Lisa Rathke of the Associated Press in mid July reported that the Universities of Minnesota and Michigan State are each selling one of three herds. The University of Kentucky hopes to reduce its herd from about 140 animals to about 100 by September. Rutgers University opted to combine its herd with one at the University of Delaware, about two hours away, about eight years ago.

Vogelmann sees at least one advantage UVM has over other land-grants. Not only are their debts larger, their employee numbers are substantial. “Whereas, say, Cornell University’s CALS consists of 370 faculty and nearly 2,000 professionals and other staff serving 4,100 students; UVM CALS serves just over 1,100 students with 107 faculty and 72 staff members. Our size advantage as a small, land-grant, research university is that we can change more quickly, try new methods and shift our research emphasis as new information and needs arise, as the population demographics shift, as the economy and money from state budgets changes,” said Vogelmann.

That's where the Dairy Center of Excellence comes in.

By forming partnerships among UVM research scientists, Vermont farms, industry and government, CALS leverages funds and significantly strengthens the College’s dairy research program," Vogelmann noted. "Before we were limited to 255 animals for research trials, but if you look at an hour's driving radius around here, that number is multiplied many times and we can expand research into topics as diverse as the farms themselves."

“UVM would be the first public institution in the country to shift its dairy research to an on-farm model with private partners. As you can see by the national attention our announcement received last summer, other research universities are paying close attention,” Vogelmann noted. “This is not just about the selling of the UVM herd, what you’re seeing is the unfolding of our larger plan,” said Vogelmann, counting key accomplishments on his fingers:

1. “Modernizing the animal science research facility at Terrill Hall in fall 2007,
2.  Reorganizing and revitalizing the UVM Miller Farm Complex beginning in 2007,
3. Boarding the UVM research herd for one year,
4.  Creating the Dairy Center of Excellence announced in September,
5. Partnering with Vermont farmers and other food and agriculture providers to increase the economic viability of Vermont farms,
6. Completion last spring of Jeffords Hall for state-of-the-art plant and soil science and plant biology research and study,
7. And taking up our role in the University of Vermont "food systems spire" with new grant-funded initiatives and strategic hiring of new faculty.”

And this is only the beginning.

What Will Be

Last May UVM’s board of trustees approved a scaled-back $4 million renovation that includes a new dairy for the CREAM; conversion of barns for about 25 research animals and possibly some sheep, goats and other small animals; a large-animal viewing area; two lecture rooms; computer study room; conference room; offices and reconfigured parking. This fall blueprints are being drawn and one building is slated for removal.

“This is not the first time we’ve looked at how we might change the Miller Farms,” said Josie Davis who has worked at the UVM farms more than 25 years. She pointed out that most of the barns are pole structures with no running water that were built in the 1960s. “Most repairs have been sort of a band-aid effect. Now we want to make Miller even more vital,” said Davis, an associate dean and animal science faculty member. She led this planning stage. “I feel strongly about the mission of the farms and that they continues long beyond my time.”

While the Miller Farms are hemmed by the interstate highway and neighborhoods, it has always done significant research with limited resources. However, experts say that the 68 acres and adjoining fields are too small for a larger herd. So the idea of tapping the diverse farms statewide opens a whole gamut of research possibilities. The added bonus, said Vogelmann: students and researchers will work side-by-side with farmers and connect science more directly to Vermonters themselves. Of course, not all research is suitable for on-farm activity, and not all farms are suitable for research. Farms must pass established guidelines. Proponents of the plan acknowledge the hurdles of distance between UVM and off-campus farms, the necessity to train farm personnel in UVM protocols and the importance of excellent communication among all parties.

Five farms have already signed on to be part of the Dairy Center of Excellence. And in meetings during 2010, the Dairy Center identified leadership and advice from 15 people, among them state government appointees, dairy leaders and farmers.

One of those advisers, John Bramley, knows UVM and Vermont agricultural issues from all sides. He came to UVM’s animal science department in 1990 and pioneered UVM’s renowned mastitis research. He was chair of animal science, CALS dean and UVM’s provost and acting president before leaving to become president and CEO of the Windham Foundation, which operates several businesses in and around Grafton, using income to fund charitable programs that promote Vermont’s small communities and rural life. Selling “is absolutely the right thing to do with this herd,” Bramley told the CALS advisory board at its meeting, June 4. “The facility is not capable of doing the kind of research we need to be doing. I applaud you and your group for getting to the point to make the college’s dairy research much more relevant than it has even been in the past. I think you can build stronger relationships with the Vermont dairy community in moving this forward,” he added.

See related stories: "UVM On-Farm Research Leads in Several Areas" and UVM Farms has History of Changing Places.