Getting Our Feet Wet

Cattle stoop down to take a drink at the WKU Farm. Jacob Hill/Farm to Fork

By Colleen Stewart/Farm to Fork

Despite the rain and biting cold, we prevailed on our field trip to the Western Kentucky University Farm and Expo Center last Friday, gathering inspiration and ideas.

Dr. Jenks Britt, an animal science professor and former agriculture department head, gave us a tour of the 783-acre farm, which contains 40 buildings and the L. D. Brown Exposition Center and USDA-ARS Complex. The farm is tended by four staff members and 18 to 24 students, half of whom live on the premises.

Freshman Audrey Stephens said she grew up knowing that she would enroll in the WKU agriculture program.

“I just loved cows, even when I was very young,” said Stephens, an animal science major, originally from Flora, Ind. She even professed to be enamored with cows.

A day’s work was evident on her dirt-smudged sweater and boots as she led the dairy cattle into the milking parlor and attached a mechanical contraption to each cow’s udders.

Audrey Stephens, a WKU Animal Science major, steps down into the milking parlor at the WKU Farm as the dairy cattle begin to crowd in. Jacob Hill/Farm to Fork

“You can’t do this by hand anymore,” she said. “You can’t make money doing small farming.”

The machines then pumped the 900 pounds of milk normally collected during a milking at the farm.  The farm’s 30 dairy cows are milked twice each day.

The WKU Farm hardly breaks even each year, Britt said.

“Many farmers have been losing about $3 to $4 a day, per cow,” he said. “You can’t stay in business very long like that.”

To break even, the Farm focuses on the added value of its products, said Britt. A $95,000 investment was recently made to purchase equipment for making cheese. Cheese and wine are the next ventures for the farm but will be gradual to garner profit, according to Britt.

Reporter Colleen Stewart pets a curious dairy cow. These particular cattle haven't begun producing milk yet. The care and milking of the cows are all the responsibility of WKU Farm student workers, some of whom live on the property. Jacob Hill/Farm to Fork

Besides dairy, the farm is home to a number of other operations:
-Crop production of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and alfalfa, grown by the agronomy group
-Around 100 cattle and calves for research and beef production
-Swine, sheep and goats used primarily for animal research and artificial insemination training
-A greenhouse for floral design and the new grape production program
-A turf, gulf course and wetland management program
-A compost pile for Bowling Green’s compost that is later sold as mulch
-An agriculture mechanics shop
-The USDA-ARS government lab in charge of water and animal waste management research
-The Ag Expo Center which hosts over 150 events a year in its 2,200 seat arena and 300-seat sale ring and lecture room
-Horses for riding lessons

See more photos from the WKU Farm