Students will not be seeing spots for much longer at Ohio State’s Waterman Dairy Farm.
The farm, which has both the larger Holstein dairy cows, spotted black and white, and the smaller, brown Jersey dairy cows, has begun the transition to an all-Jersey dairy cow farm. The discussion to have OSU’s Waterman Dairy Farm become a Jersey farm started in June 2009 and has elicited mixed reactions.
“The Holsteins leaving OSU Waterman Dairy Farm is sad in some ways but makes complete sense for the current situation being faced by the farm,” said Jason Hartschuh, the vice president of OSU’s Buckeye Dairy Club.
Holsteins have always been part of the farm, just as farming has always been a part of OSU, which was originally named the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College.
The opportunity to research Holsteins, the most popular breed of dairy cow, will no longer exist for those at OSU’s main campus.
However, the Ohio State Agricultural Technology Institute at Wooster does have a herd of Holsteins, Harschuh said in an e-mail.
The size difference and food consumption of each breed weighed heavily on the decision to become a Jersey farm.
On average, a Holstein weighs 1,500 pounds, and the average Jersey weighs 900 pounds. Usually, dairy cows eat 4 percent of their body weight a day, which makes it more affordable to feed and keep Jerseys, said Reagan Bluel, a manager of the farm.
To cut costs, the Holsteins are being sold to the state prison system.
“There are very few dairy farms that are in expansion mode right now, and the prison system is,” Bluel said.
The farm had been looking for buyers, and the prison system was the only organization that could afford to purchase all the Holsteins.
The state prison system paid a competitive market price for the 157 Holsteins, she said.
The competitive market price for dairy cows is always changing and depends on the cow’s pedigree, age and weight, but the average price for a Holstein is $1,200 to $1,600, said Rich Hothem, a dairy farmer from eastern Ohio.
A cow that is two years or older is worth more than a heifer, a cow younger than two years.
Twenty-two months to two years is the age when most cows can first give milk.
The price is less for cows that are too young, which account for 86 of the Holsteins they have left. Six of the Holsteins they had left were dry cows, cows that can give milk but are currently not being milked because they are close to giving birth.
Sixty-five lactating Holsteins were still at the farm Friday.
The plan is to remove eight lactating Holsteins a day starting Monday, Bluel said.
Looking ahead, Bluel said the farm has three goals: to teach dairy farming, provide research opportunities and outreach to people who would not be able to experience farm life. And the decision to become a Jersey farm allows the farm to meet these goals.
The plan is to have about 100 Jerseys producing milk, she said.
To be sure, Bluel did not make the decision for the farm to be solely Jersey, but she likes managing either breed, she said.
A Jersey’s and a Holstein’s milk production are noticeably different.
“While Holsteins produce more milk by volume, Jerseys produce what the dairy industry calls more valuable milk,” said Kevin Jacque, a student employee at the farm.
The milk is considered more valuable because it is high in fat and can be used to make other foods, such as cheese and ice cream.
Also, the cows’ personalities can be different.
Jerseys are more curious, and Holsteins are more laid-back, Jacque said in an e-mail.
Waterman Dairy Farm has tried to be self-sufficient in feeding its animals.
The farm has produced all the corn silage, the extra part of the corn people do not eat, which makes up 60 percent of a cow’s diet, said professor Maurice Eastridge, adviser to the Buckeye Dairy Club.
The other 40 percent of a cow’s diet is made up of alfalfa hay and grain, food that the farm has to buy.
Another cost is changing the stalls to accommodate Jerseys, Eastridge said.
Loss of money from Holstein organizations is a concern.
“From a research perspective, it may be a little more challenging for us to get some grants from dairy companies,” he said.
The concern is whether industry will provide money for a Jersey farm as easily as it would for a Holstein farm.
This is not the first time the farm has cut breeds of dairy cows from its program.
When Eastridge came to OSU in 1986, there were five breeds of dairy cows: Holstein, Jersey, Guernsey, Brown Swiss and Ayrshire.
Shortly after he arrived, the farm got rid of all but the Holstein and Jersey breeds.
“After that,” he said, “we had the two breeds until this last decision.”
The last decision took many things into consideration.
“It was primarily driven by the feed supply needed, the economic situation with the price of milk, and then trying to provide some overall efficiency by having a single breed,” he said.
The farm is located at 2433 Carmack Road, which is west of campus off Lane Avenue.
