Tasmanian Dairy Research Facility

Opened in 2022. Owned by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), a division of University of Tasmania.

The TIA Dairy Research Facility is located on Nunns Road, Elliott, in the north west of the state. The research facility consists of:

220 hectares (112 hectare milking area, 72 hectare run-off, remainder is bush, laneways, dams and buildings)
20 unit a-side swing-over herringbone dairy with automatic cup removers, automatic weighing, auto-drafting, and an Alpro milk monitoring system. The dairy yard has been expanded to hold 400 cows and laneways renovated
A 300m (24hectare) centre pivot irrigator with variable rate control
40% of the milking platform is irrigated (combination of centre pivot, k-line and fixed sprinkler irrigation)
335 cows, 100 rising 2 year olds, and 120 rising 1 year olds. The breeding policy aims to achieve a herd comprised of 20% Holstein Friesian animals with the remainder cross bred animals (primarily Friesian X Jersey). Currently the herd also contains a number of Friesian x Aussie Red and Friesian x Montbeliarde x Aussie Red.
Basic laboratory and drying oven facilities
Research at TDRF is conducted in numerous ways ñ small plots within paddocks, comparisons between areas on the farm, or larger scale research that uses part of the farm and a herd of cows. Research is conducted mainly in the areas of:

Feedbase (pasture and crops)
Soils and nutrient management
Water
Cow health and nutrition
Use of technology
Ongoing, regular monitoring is carried out to provide information for farm management and to also create a database of historical information that can be used for research purposes.

This monitoring includes:

Daily milk production
Daily climatic data
Weekly pasture walks on milking area
Monthly weighing of milking cows
Monthly weighing of young stock
Monthly condition scoring of milking cows

https://app.scientist.com/providers/university-of-tasmania-tia-dairy-research-facility