The Ontario Dairy Research Centre at the Elora Research Station is leading dairy innovation through education and collaboration. It is a state-of-the-art 175,000 square foot facility for discovery, learning and outreach. This centre is a partnership between the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario, OMAFRA, the University of Guelph and the Ontario dairy industry.

This unique facility offers:

• Accommodations for 300 mature cows and 300 heifers
• 240 free-stalls for lactating housing, 24 tie-stalls for special project housing, 72 stalls for close-up/dry cow housing and 18 pens for maternity housing
• Flexible individual or group calf housing
• Four milking systems (rotary parlour, VMS robot, tie-stalls, maternity)
• Feed intake monitoring and control systems
• Sample preparation and storage facilities
• Intensive care and procedure room
• Training/meeting facilities
• Closed circuit video throughout the facility
• Integrated ventilation system
• Robotic calf feeding
• Raised bulk tank

Research areas and outcomes

Areas of research and outcomes are two-fold: to support Ontario’s dairy industry and to provide consumer benefit.

• Dairy industry research includes animal health and welfare, genetics and genomics, animal and human nutrition, management and technology, and product development.
• Consumer research includes creation of a patented feed ration that helps cows produce DHA-laden milk, and a testing procedure and management tool to identify animals with high immune response rates that can be passed down to offspring.