Washington State University’s Knott Dairy Center is receiving the largest round of upgrades since it was first constructed more than 60 years ago. Thanks to the Washington Legislature, the dairy farm was granted $10 million for deferred maintenance and safety projects. Work has already begun — the university expects to move cattle into a new barn by February 2025 and all other projects will be fully complete by the fall.
“(This) was invaluable for us to have a dairy on site for the decades to come,” said Gordon Murdoch, chairperson of the WSU Department of Animal Sciences. “The service of life was kind of reaching its limits and dairies have changed. If we wanted to truly offer an educational experience for our students .
.. it was critical that we made some of these upgrades.
” The grant will fund four key improvements on the dairy located 7 miles west of WSU’s campus. A hard surface with proper drainage was installed this fall, replacing the dirt around the site. Murdoch said rain and snow made the dairy muddy for most of the year, which was unsafe for both people and animals.
Enhancements to manure handling facilities are planned to increase capacity and durability. The new system will make a cleaner area, Murdoch said, and will provide a huge benefit to animals and staff. The dairy will also receive a new handling facility for larger animals to have quicker checkups and safer interactions for staff.
The biggest improvement, Murdoch said, is construction of a n.
