The University Teaching Dairy on Highway 78 is getting an extreme makeover, agricultural style.

Built in 1974 to replace the dairy at Four Towers, the Teaching Dairy allows up to six cows to be machine-milked at a time.

Students in many animal and dairy science classes get to experience the milking process, but “it is just an outdated and inefficient facility,” said Whitney Franks, a sophomore from Waynesboro, in an interview Monday.

The existing structure needs repairs, but “some aspects, such as automatic take-offs, could no longer be repaired due to lack of parts,” said Lane Ely, professor of animal and dairy science, in an e-mail interview Monday.

The new dairy will be in the same location, but the only part of the existing milking parlor that will remain is the bulk tank – where milk fresh from cows is stored and cooled.

“The parlor will be more up-to-date and similar to the industry for students,” Ely said.

The entire parlor will change from a double-three side-opening to a double-six herringbone design.

The double-three is an uncommon structure to see in the South, Franks said.

The double-six, on the other hand, “is much like a parking lot,” Franks said. “It allows six cows to come in at each side and turn at an angle, allowing the people milking to reach the cow with ease.”

To get the cows into the parlor to be milked, a mechanical crowd gate has been installed.

This gate “makes a dramatic difference in the flow of cows into the parlor,” Kenny Kotani, a senior from Middletown, Md., wrote in an e-mail interview Tuesday.

The gate will “improve the efficiency of the milking operation as well as saving time, money and the stress level of the dairy cows,” he wrote.

There also will be changes to the milking system and data recording.

The current setup requires manual positioning and removal of the milking device.

The new parlor will have an automatic take-off system “in which the milking system will know when the cow is finished milking, and will remove the milker from the cow,” wrote Matthew London, a first-year master’s student from Cleveland, Ga., in an e-mail interview Tuesday.

With the old system, workers had to record by hand the amount of milk produced per cow. Under the new system, electronic milk weights will aid in record-keeping, London wrote.

Milking the University’s herd usually takes around three hours, but the renovated dairy “will cut the milking time by a substantial amount,” Franks said.

Less time spent milking means cows and heifers will be able to spend more time eating, enabling them to produce even more milk. This will rake in more profit and also is less stressful for the cow, she said.

London said based on his experience, efficiency in milking is particularly important.

“By being able to milk the same number of cows in about half the time, it will allow students more time to take care of the cows and heifers on the farm [and] perform other activities on the farm that will improve [its] overall well-being,” he wrote.

Workers and students will “get a chance to work with modern milking equipment and become acquainted with it,” especially if they are pursuing a career in the dairy industry. The new parlor will be a safer milking environment for both cows and students, he wrote.

Students will gain “a new perspective of the milking operation,” Kotani wrote. “The renovations of the Teaching Dairy are instrumental in the success of the farm, in addition to the success of students applying their knowledge taught in the classroom.”