NEW SWEDEN — The owners of Northern Plains — one of the largest dairies in the state — are planning to add another similar size dairy nearby.

The new dairy would have an affiliation with the University of Minnesota’s veterinary medicine college, allowing students to stay at the dairy while they train.

“The beauty of this operation is that it’s commercial success means private investment will pay for it and the university just has to invest in the educational side of it,” said Mitch Davis of Davis Family Dairies.

The project will cost $15 million.

Trevor Ames, interim dean of the college of veterinary medicine, said the affiliation is a good fit for them because the Davis family has a large successful dairy operation as well as related processing companies.

The family operates Davisco, an international food business.

“This exposes our students to on-farm conditions. They get exposure to a lot of the routine things that happen on a large commercial dairy and a lot of the routine treatments,” Ames said.

The new dairy would be near New Sweden in Nicollet County, about 15 miles northwest of St. Peter. The Davis’ Northern Plains dairy, opened in 2003, is a few miles west of St. Peter off Highway 99.

The new dairy would milk 3,000 cows (the same as Northern Plains) but would also have a calving section where about 6,000 calves would be born annually. Davis hopes the barn is open a year from now.

Permit process ahead

Davis already received a variance from the county to exceed the county’s animal unit maximum of 3,000. The Board of Adjustments granted Davis a variance allowing for 4,500 animal units. (An animal unit roughly equals one adult cow.)

The higher number of animals is needed to provide cows at various ages for veterinary students to work on.

Ames said it’s important for students to work on animals at all ages.

The bull calves will be sold and heifer calves will be kept on site for 5 to 7 months before being sent to a farm in southwestern Minnesota that Davis contracts with to raise them.

Davis and the university are now designing the building and starting work on an Environmental Assessment Worksheet.

It is during the EAW that the public and regulatory agencies, such as the DNR, can weigh in with any environmental concerns. The EAW — mostly a state process — will likely take much of the winter to complete. Nicollet County will then have to give its permitting approvals.

Davis faced opposition to early plans for Northern Plains. He said the process for this barn may not be easier, but he expects the debate to be different.

“I think we and the public are more educated and up to speed now. I think we’ll spend more time on the important issues and not just general education,” Davis said.

“The public has had exposure to Northern Plains with visits and things, so the dialogue will be more informed from the get go.”

Robert Redding, Nicollet County deputy zoning administrator, said his office has received some odor complaints about Northern Plains since it opened four years ago.

He said there is just one state-regulated issue related to odor that can be enforced — the level of hydrogen sulfide emissions.

He said Davis has responded quickly to odor complaints and, when a study showed the dairy could exceed state sulfide emissions, Northern Plains added compounds to the waste to significantly reduce sulfide and odor.

“It’s mostly issues of odor as an annoyance,” Redding said of complaints made by neighbors. “Northern Plains has been very good about responding to complaints. I’ll commend them for that. They’re quite expedient.”

Davis said the technology is improving steadily and the new barn will have less odor problems.

“The manure digester and everything has improved since six or seven years ago. The barns are designed better as far as cross ventilation to capture odor.

“The bedding, everything is improved to reduce odor.”

Opportunity for training

The university will pay to build a small dormitory where four students at a time will stay for two-week periods. There will also be a treatment room, small lab, and a classroom and related technology that will be built and maintained by the university.

Davis said the dairy and the family’s food business will also allow students to see safety and security measures needed in today’s world.

“With Homeland Security rules we have things in place to secure it right through to the factory and they can follow how that’s done,” Davis said.

Ames said the university’s large public health/food safety program will benefit from being able to study the Davis operations.

“We’re especially excited that this is more than a large, successful dairy but is tied to a successful processing plant. We can partner in those aspects as well,” Ames said.

Davis and Ames said the new dairy will also be a place for continuing education for vets, dairy managers and dairy employees.”

Northern Plains milks 3,000 jersey cows and Davis said the new barn is likely to be jerseys and cross-breeds being researched by the university with the aim of producing more efficient milk cows.

“As far as breeding, we’re behind the hog and poultry industries,” Davis said.

He said demand at Davisco is driving the move for another dairy.

“We always need more milk.”

He said the European market has grown dramatically recently, in part because China’s demand for infant formula and other dairy products has sent more European products to China.

“The demand for cheese and byproducts in Europe and internationally is unprecedented. Even in the Middle East the demand’s picking up now.”