Dairy producers and industry professionals from across the Southwest attended this year's Southwest Dairy Day held in Stephenville, Texas on Thursday, May 5. This year, the event marked a special occasion as it was held in conjunction with the grand opening of the Southwest Regional Dairy Center. Story continues after photo slideshow.

Among the guests and speakers at the grand opening ceremony were Tarleton State University President Dominic Dottavio, Texas A&M University System Chancellor Mike McKinney, Don Cawthon, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, State Representative Sid Miller and Texas Commissioner of Agriculture Todd Staples.

Alan Vander Horst, president of 360 Ag Management, LLC in Dublin, Texas, and the producer-operator for the dairy center was also one of the speakers at the ceremony. As producer-operator, Vander Horst will oversee day-to-day operations of the production facility. Barry Lambert, associate professor in the Animal Science and Wildlife Management Department at Tarleton, will serve as the director of the dairy center.

Some of the key features of the new dairy facility include a freestall barn with the capacity to house 300 cows and a 24-stall rotary parlor with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology capabilities. The dairy center also has a commodity barn, a hay storage structure, a metabolism research center, a heifer center and a special needs facility.

Tarleton State University is the only university in Texas that currently operates a teaching/research dairy facility. In July of 2004, the Southwest Regional Dairy Center was designated as the Texas A&M University Dairy. As a research and educational facility, the dairy center also features an observation area, classrooms, a sample processing laboratory and a teaching laboratory.

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Following the grand opening ceremony, visitors took tours of the center's indoor and outdoor facilities. A large tent was set up outdoors for the exhibitors to set up their booths. Hi-Pro Feeds sponsored a free lunch for all visitors and guests.

Dr. Saqib Mukhtar, associate professor at Texas A&M University, gave two presentations early in the afternoon. In his first presentation, he discussed the dairy center’s waste handling system. The second presentation was held in one of the classrooms, where he covered the topic of greenhouse gases in animal agriculture. PD