Field trip planning guide – UW Madison's Dairy Cattle Science Center
About the Dairy Cattle Science Center:
 1815 West Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706
 Website: http://dysci.wisc.edu/dcc.php
 608-265-9500 – Campus Visitor's Center
 Hours: Milking from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM every day except during home football
games. (Open to walk-in visitors)
 Facility tours available by reservation, for groups of up to 40 people, with no
minimum size required.
 The Dairy Science Center says, “This facility houses 88 milking cows in a tie-stall
barn. With a small teaching arena attached to the facility, Dairy Science
Undergraduates have hands on access to cows during all lab practical sessions.
The facility also employs students, providing them with a convenient opportunity
to gain practical experience and earn some income while attending classes.”
Curricular connections:
 Health and nutrition
 Dairy science and the dairy production process
 Connecting with the food we eat
 Cows and animals
About the field trip:
 Planning took only the time to call the Campus Visitor's Center – multistep
process to contact the Dairy Science Center through the Visitor's Center
 It took about four days to plan, only because of teacher schedule complications
 Cost – 50 cents to cover the cost of disposable booties
 Time required: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes of milking tour if it lines up at that
time
 Special considerations: Students who may have allergies to animals, outdoor
allergies, loud noises, aversions to animal smells, it is a short tour, religious
considerations, political considerations (especially vegetarianism and
experimentation)
 Students will need to be well-behaved and safety will be a consideration because
students will be walking close to the cows and will have no barriers between
them
 Outline of the tour:
◦ What we saw:
▪ We were introduced to the facility and the tour guide
▪ We looked through the milking parlor and then the milk storage facility
▪ We saw the area where the cows are housed and were given the
opportunity to look at the current research projects
 On some tours the students would be able to put their hands inside
the cannula (opening into the cow's stomach)
 On some tours the students would not see the catheters

▪ There is a classroom for student instruction in larger groups
 We walked through the feed room and saw the silage, haylage, corn,
cotton seeds and other feed materials
 We were allowed to look up into the silos
 The tour wrapped up with a question and answer session where we got to
clarify our understandings
 As a bonus, we were present for the milking period and got to watch the
cows get milked.
Overall rating:
 An excellent tour that is informative and hands-on
 The price is extremely low
 The location is also very accessible and can be reached by city bus easily