Published 2:08 pm Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Construction of maternity and commodity barns as well as classroom space with an advanced facility for distance learning is under way at the dairy-anchored Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment near Rupert.
The University of Idaho-led project will include the nation’s largest research dairy, according to a UI news release. Idaho CAFE is scheduled to begin milking operations by early 2026, starting with about 400 cows and gradually increasing to about 2,000 to reflect the size of an average dairy herd in the state.
First-phase construction included major earth work and a milking barn with modern rotary parlor.
The parlor includes automation technology that allows for faster, more efficient milking and requires fewer employees, according to UI. Robots will spray cows’ teats with sanitizer prior to each milking, a task typically done manually by dairy workers, according to the release. A separate robotic system will sanitize teats again following milking. The milking units will sanitized and flushed automatically after each cow is milked.
An automated crowd gate further increases the milking facility’s labor efficiency. A bar will lower behind cows within the holding pen, slowly moving forward and guiding them through the parlor entrance.
Water used to chill milk quickly is captured in an automated self-flushing system and reused to clean the floor of the milking parlor, according to the university. Afterward, the water will irrigate crops on an adjacent soil-and-water demonstration farm.
Ear tags will link cows to computerized records detailing individual characteristics, health records, lactation history, age, pregnancy status and other information, according to UI. Specialized collars will track cows’ movements and how many steps the cows take — data that can help staff assess health and determine which cows may be in heat.
A sensor inside the rumen of each cow will alert dairy personnel when animals become sick well before they are symptomatic.
In winter, a concrete pad near the milking parlor’s front entrance will use radiant heating to prevent spilled milk from freezing and posing a safety hazard.
Tour groups will observe dairy operations through a window from atop a catwalk.
Idaho’s dairy industry worked closely with the university in designing CAFE — which will provide for research into challenges affecting Idaho dairies at an industry scale, making findings more applicable to their operations, according to the release.
“This is the first time you can do research on this kind of a scale in the U.S. ever,” said Kelly Anthon, Idaho Senate president pro tempore and Rupert city administrator, following an early May tour. The tour included lawmakers, local officials and members of the state Permanent Building Fund Advisory Council.
“We need to keep supporting this facility,” Anthon said. “It’s going to mean a lot for Idaho and the Idaho economy.”
The state is the third largest producer of dairy products in the U.S.
CAFE has been made possible by a partnership involving UI, industry and government, according to the university. The legislature in 2017 appropriated $10 million from the Permanent Building Fund.
The state land board in 2023 authorized $23.25 million from UI’s sale of endowment land in Caldwell no longer used for experimental farming. The 2025 legislature appropriated $250,000 toward building maintenance at the milking parlor.
McAlvain Construction of Boise is the general contractor on the project. Keller Associates Inc. completed project engineering.
