Animal, dairy science start building new home on the range
January 16, 2009 by DALLAS DUNCAN
Filed under News
Almost seven years after purchasing 237 acres off Highway 78, the animal and dairy science department can begin construction on a state-of-the-art facility – Double Bridges Farm.
Construction is scheduled to begin in March or April 2009, said Keith Bertrand, department head of animal and dairy science, in an interview Tuesday.
Bertrand said he believes the best part of Double Bridges is “that all the units, except for equine, are close together, which makes it a lot easier to manage and help each other across the units.”
The Double Bridges project was initiated when the current South Milledge facilities – most of which were built between 1950 and 1970 – began to show their age, said Robert Dove, associate professor of animal and dairy science, in an interview Monday.
Initially, the animal and dairy science department intended to renovate the existing buildings.
The construction costs of renovating the current facilities were extremely similar to the cost of building a brand new facility, Dove said.
Because the University is also expanding down South Milledge and space is in high demand, constructing a new facility was good for both the University and the animal and dairy science department, said Robert Stewart, animal science project coordinator. Hence, the Double Bridges project was born.
Double Bridges is designed as a modern, environmentally-conscious farm that will “put students into a facility that lets them see operations in a commercial setting,” Dove said.
Kevin Kirsche, assistant director of planning in the Office of University Architects, is the project manager for Double Bridges. He said in an e-mail interview Tuesday that “the new farm design also seeks to illustrate the college’s environmental goals through effective nutrient and waste management, conservation of water resources and daylight harvesting.”
Double Bridges Farm will house sheep, beef cattle and swine.
The swine units will use group sow housing, which is viewed by many animal welfare groups as more “animal friendly,” Dove said.
Group sow housing is less confining than the existing pens, Dove said, and keeps up with a legislature trend that requires such housing.
Stewart said the beef and sheep operations will be on a rotating pasture system.
Since Double Bridges was funded by bond sales prior to the current financial crunch, University students will not see any additional tuition or fee changes.
“We pledged not to go back to the [Georgia General Assembly] legislature for more money,” Stewart said, and the Double Bridges committee worked the past year “to design, redesign and redesign to get within budget limitations.”
Dove said the economic status may benefit the project because construction costs have dropped since the initial estimates.
Though students and faculty will have a greater distance to travel to the new facility, Bertrand said distance will hardly be a drawback compared to the opportunities that Double Bridges will provide, including “better extension and teaching programs that allow students to have better experiences in lab.”
Research possibilities, predominantly with swine, will be improved by including resources to collaborate with the Medical College of Georgia branch in Athens, Stewart said, and added, “Pigs are the best model to study humans.”
“We are going to have a model farm for teaching and student interaction within a minimum driving distance from campus,” Stewart said.
