Winter Traveling Dairy Class

The Winter Traveling Dairy Management class is offered by Dr. Mark Huyler and provides an opportunity for students within the UMass Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences to tour dairy farms and dairy-related businesses with students and faculty from the six participating New England universities.  Students spend a week in early January touring in varying sections of the United States and Canada. While all dairy producers are in the business of producing milk, each does it in a way that is unique to the region and to the individual farm. Students learn first-hand about the challenges that dairy producers face. 

Winter Traveling Dairy January 8-12, 2024

Faculty Advisor - mhuyler [at] vasci.umass.edu (Mark Huyler,) Ph.D.

Winter Traveling Dairy Tour 24 Ontario

Students and Advisors with the statue of Springbank Snow Countess in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.

2024 Winter Traveling Dairy Itinerary

Winter Traveling Dairy Tour 23 small group with Holstein calf

                            Dr. Huyler and UMass students visit with a Holstein calf
                                          on the 2023 Winter Traveling Dairy Tour

 2023 Winter Traveling Dairy Report

2023 Winter Traveling Dairy Tour group

                                        Winter Traveling Dairy Tour Group 2023
                                   students and instructors from the Universities of
                                      Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts-Amherst,
                                      New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

 

2020 Winter Traveling Dairy Report

Winter Traveling Dairy Tour 2020 Schedule

January 6, 2020
    University of New Hampshire Dairy Farm and Organic Dairy
    Highland Farms Inc. - oldest purebred Jersey farm in the US milking about 250 cows

January 7, 2020
    Conant Acres is home to one of the top purebred Holstein herds in the country.
    Hardy Farm - diversified, organic dairy farm. The farm milks 60 purebred Ayrshires and shows them regionally and nationally.
    Piper Farms - 500-cow freestall farm undergoing a creative, non-family transfer and has an “All In/All Out” dry cow facility.

January 8, 2020
    Stonyvale, Inc. and Exeter Agri-Energy  - 1000-cow Holstein farm uses the waste from this well managed farm in a methane cogeneration facility that generates power for more than 1000 homes.
    University of Maine – J.F. Witter Teaching and Research Center
    Pineland Farms Dairy Company Inc., Largest cheese maker in Maine.
    Seal Cove Farm - 120-doe milking goat farm. The milk from this high producing herd is used to make a variety of fresh and aged cheeses that are marketed throughout the Northeast.

January 9, 2020
    Meet with industry leaders:
         Amanda Beal – Maine Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
         Dr. Michele Walsh – Maine State Veterinarian
         Sarah Littlefield – Executive Director – Maine Dairy Promotion Board and Dairy Nutrition Council
         Julie-Marie Bickford – Executive Director – Maine Dairy Industry Association
         Tim Drake – Executive Director – Maine Milk Commission
    Taylor Dairy Farm - The largest Jersey farm in New England milking more than 850 cows.
    Flood Brothers Inc. - The largest dairy farm in Maine milking more than 1,700 cows. The herd is milked three times per day in a 100-cow rotary parlor.

January 10, 2020
    Pineland Farm Inc. - Operated by the Libra Foundation. Excellent 70-cow registered Holstein herd provides a dairy learning environment for the public
    IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. - Worldwide manufacturer of animal disease diagnostic tests for both livestock and companion animals

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