LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

UW-Platteville’s Dairy Pilot Plant and Training Center will be the first dairy food processing plant on a university farm in the state of Wisconsin. Faculty and students will be able to process milk from Pioneer Farm to make cheese and ice cream, while performing research and development for other new diverse products, such as using goat milk cheese or a unique bottled dairy product. It will also be a resource for industry, offering opportunities to work on product development, both food-related and nonfood-related and using waste products to create new byproducts. In addition, the Dairy Pilot Plant and Training Center will be available for local farmers, industry partners, artisan cheesemakers, and regional stakeholders as a collaboration and innovation space.

This facility will provide an opportunity to do applied system-level research on sustainable farm-tofork ecosystems including water management and energy efficiency and also increase the research capacity within the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Sciences’ new Sesquicentennial Hall. Our researchers will include nearly all majors on campus, and strive to achieve advancements in the implementation of carbon footprint reducing practices creating new workforce opportunities and diversifying our regional economy.

The Dairy Pilot Plant and Training Center will tell the story of farming and dairy, with a store to sell in-house and local products. It will also act as a training facility for the regional industry, offering apprentice work, outreach, workshops, and other training events. The proposed plant will help future employees of farms and production facilities gain the high-tech skills needed to access higher wages and more desirable jobs while providing regional employers the skilled workforce they need to succeed in the future.

Dairy Pilot Plant and Training Center

The proposed Diary Pilot Plant will feature a full production pilot plant, retail store with viewing area into the plant, researcher offices, and milk intake garage and support spaces.