Cornell University is building a new dairy teaching barn that is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012. The new barn is an effort to expand hands on learning and real-life application for students pursuing a career in veterinary medicine or animal science. The barn will be located within walking distance from the campus.
“Early in the vet programs, students use textbooks to learn how to do physical exams of all domestic species,” said Prof. Lorin Warnick Ph.D. ’92, ambulatory and production medicine. “Now, we can take them out to the new dairy barn and have a place set up where they can safely work around the cows, learn how to perform a medical examination and administer medication.”
The barn will contain 150 milking and dairy cows, and will be used for both teaching purposes and commercial production of milk, said Alfonso Torres, associate dean for public policy at the vet school.
Torres said he hopes the facility will broaden the educational experience of farm-management outside the vet school and into the local community.
“The barn has a built-in classroom with a large window overlooking the cow stable,” he said. “We want to attract students from elementary to high school, as well as the general public, so they are able to observe how milk is obtained from the cows without ever having to enter the farm.”
Source: Cornell Daily Sun