The Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center is representative of a typical New England Dairy operation, thereby developing new knowledge and management expertise geared directly to many state and regional stakeholders in the dairy industry. It houses about 90 milking-age cows and approximately 70 growing, replacement animals. Included in that number is the 20-cow, student-managed Cooperative for Real Education in Agricultural Management (CREAM) herd), with the remaining animals devoted primarily to research in the area of dairy nutrition and reproductive biology. The facility relies heavily on student labor - during the academic year there are typically about 40 students working part-time at the farm at any given time, either as hourly employees or as participants in the CREAM program. In addition to its primary research focus, the farm receives large numbers of visitors and hosts a number of public programs each year (e.g., School to Farm Days). Milk production currently averages about 26,000 to 27,000 pounds per cow per year for the CREAM and research herds, which exceeds the national average.
The Fairchild Dairy Center has been long recognized for its quality milk and operations. The farm has received numerous Gold Quality Awards from the Dairy Farmers of America, and has been recognized as a New Hampshire Quality Milk Producer by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The farm has received Quality Milk Awards from Dairy One for consistently producing high quality milk with a low somatic cell count. Dairy One also has recognized the CREAM herd having the highest quality milk from among approximately 3,100 dairy herds on the official Northeast Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) test. The farm has been cited as a Dairy of Distinction by the Milk Sanitation Board, which in 2000 awarded it a Certificate of Quality.
The Keener Dairy Research Building, which honors Harry Keener, former long-time director of NHAES and dean of the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, sits adjacent to the Fairchild Dairy Center and houses multiple laboratories, offices, and research support areas for associated faculty, staff, and graduate students.
A portion of the experiment station's forage production area adjacent to the Fairchild Dairy hosts the COLSA Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS) program’s high tunnel greenhouses and the UNH Organic Garden Club. Students in the experiential SAFS program are involved in all aspects of a food production partnership, which enables them to gain hands-on experience in growing and providing produce to the Dairy Bar Restaurant. Students associated with the UNH Organic Garden Club work with the college and experiment station, the Office of Sustainability Programs, and other campus entities to learn and practice effective organic gardening methods, and sell or give away to local causes a portion of their produce.
The Fairchild Dairy is open to the public days every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors can observe milking at 3:30 p.m.
36 O'Kane Rd.
Durham, NH 03824
United States
With many users at each of our farm/field facilities, it is critical to ensure that we have knowledge of all ongoing and desired activities in order to ensure compatibility, and to coordinate resources required to provide support and facilitation as needed. Importantly, we have responsibility for compliance with federal, state, university and local regulations, and to ensure safety for our staff, students, faculty, and visitors.
To request the use of the Fairchild Dairy Teaching and Research Center facilities, please complete the Fairchild Dairy Facilities Use Request form.
In the form, you will be asked to provide information about the proposed project well in advance, so that we can evaluate our abilities to accommodate your requested use of facilities and resources. The pertinent required information (which is encouraged to be collected and organized in advance) includes the desired use of the facility or facilities, amount of number of cattle, dairy facility space, or other needs for the activity; approximate timeline of the proposed project; required treatments, preparation, applications or modifications to the dairy space, and intended measurements or sampling; the types of staff support that will required; and a completed copy of a IACUC approval form.
The completed form will be submitted to the farm manager, Jon Whitehouse, and the NHAES director, Anton Bekkerman, for review and approval based on availability resources, potential impacts on existing and planned activities, budgetary ramifications, and related management considerations.
The NHAES Directors office will notify the requestor of a decision along with any qualifications, stipulations and/or requirements. You may be asked to visit with the Facility Manager(s) and/or the NHAES Director’s Office to clarify intended activities and requirements so that we may better serve your needs.
Lastly, please be aware that full adherence to all relevant regulations, institutional approvals and compliance requirements (for example, https://www.unh.edu/research/research/compliance-safety) is the responsibility of the individual facility user. Supporting documentation must be provided before any use is permitted.
For questions, please contact Jon Whitehouse, 603-862-1027.
