Demonstration dairy facility to be designed, built, and operated

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Contact: Mitch Davis, 507-665-4540

University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine announces affiliation with Davis Family Dairies
State-of-the-art dairy facility will bring together educational, research, and commercial dairy practitioners to help improve dairy industry practices

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (September 17, 2007) - Davis Family Dairies, LLC, and the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine today announced an affiliation to design, construct, and operate a commercial, educational, and demonstration dairy facility in New Sweden Township in Nicollet County, Minnesota.

This new state-of-the-art dairy facility will bring together educational, research, and commercial dairy practitioners to improve management practices and dairy husbandry, teach veterinary medicine, research emerging products, and serve as a center for continuing education. The facility will also offer the unique opportunity to integrate various academic and educational functions into the commercial environment that will exist at the site.

“The Davis family and everyone associated with Davis Family Dairies are excited and flattered by the opportunity to work with the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine to help further the experience and knowledge base of the dairy industry in Minnesota and across the United States,” said Mark Davis, CEO, Davis Family Dairies, LLC. “This partnership will help improve dairy practices and products from the farm to fork by connecting our commercial dairy production and processing businesses with the College for Veterinary Medicine’s research and teaching expertise.”

“The College of Veterinary Medicine is thrilled by this partnership with Davis Family Dairies, LLC,” said Trevor R. Ames, interim dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Our students and faculty will benefit greatly from the opportunity to learn and teach in a large, well-run Minnesota dairy. We are convinced that the quality of our graduates will be significantly enhanced by our relationship with Davis Family Dairies.”

The new dairy facility will house more than 4,000 animals and employ more than 40 people. It will serve as a birthing site for more than 6,000 calves per year, milk 3,000 cows on site, and provide management support to another 3,000 cows at the existing Northern Plains Dairy, LLP. It will also include dormitory facilities, classrooms, and teaching laboratories.

The project will cost over $15 million. It will purchase more than $200,000 in feed each month from local farmers and sell nutrients for fertilizing more than 2,000 acres each year to local farmers. Davis Family Dairies will fund and own the facilities while the College of Veterinary Medicine will contribute toward the components of the facility specific to academic functions.

About Davis Family Dairies, LLC
Davis Family Dairies, LLC, is owned and operated by the Davis Family, whose other businesses include Davisco Foods International and Cambria Natural Quartz Surfaces, both headquartered in Le Sueur, Minnesota. Davis Family Dairies was started in 2000 and includes Northern Plains Dairy, a partnership with the Dave Mogensen family. What is now Davisco Foods was started in 1943 by Stanley Davis in St. Peter, Minnesota, and Cambria was started by the Davis family in 2002.

About the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine
The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine trains veterinarians for private practice, academic, public health, and public service careers, conducts research and trains scientists in veterinary and biomedical sciences, and provides specialty veterinary medical services for agricultural and companion animals across the upper Midwest.

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