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Casey Whyte, manager of the UW-Babcock Hall Dairy Plant, explains how raw milk is pasteurized and homogenized before being piped to various locations throughout the facility.
John Lucey, director of the Center for Dairy Research, describes a new aseptic line and aseptic bag filler. The equipment can be used to produce shelf-stable dairy-based beverages. Such beverages have significant potential for export to countries where refrigeration is limited, he says.
John Jaeggi, right, feeds white-cheddar cheese into equipment that slices it into snack-size pieces. Those pieces will later be 'puffed' as a test for a new snack item.
Ben Ullerup-Mathers is a research cheesemaker at the Center for Dairy Research. The expanded center's new environmentally controlled cheese 'caves' enable researchers to experiment with more varieties of blue cheese, he says.
Strips of white-cheddar cheese are contained in a vat underneath a slicer.
Brandon Prochaska is a sensory coordinator at the Center for Dairy Researcher. He works with professional cheese tasters as well as consumer panels to evaluate cheese flavor, texture and more.
A new two-story three-stage dryer imported from Denmark enables the center to produce dry products such as whey and milk powder, John Lucey says.
A network of food-grade-quality pipelines distributes milk to various locations in the plant, John Lucey says. Valves, in blue, can open and close pipes to regulate milk flow.
The University of Wisconsin-Babcock Hall on the Madison campus is home to the university's dairy plant, dairy store and food-science department as well as the UW-Center for Dairy Research.
The main entrance to the newly expanded Center for Dairy Research features a modern atrium.
A collage of photos within the Center for Dairy Research shows the various processes used within the facility.
More photos on a wall at the Center for Dairy Research show the various processes used within the facility. A test kitchen is used for evaluating taste, texture and more.
Staff members at the Center for Dairy Research conduct about 30 workshops each year. The center's new auditorium seats 80 people.
Just a few of the many types of cheese produced in Wisconsin are highlighted on a piece of artwork at the Center for Dairy Research.
The UW-Center for Dairy Research expansion project is supported by several companies and organizations. The total cost of the Babcock Hall renovation and expansion project was $72.9 million. Donors – primarily from the state’s cheese industry – raised more than $18 million to support the project.
MADISON, Wis. – There’s plenty going on inside the newly renovated and expanded University of Wisconsin-Babcock Hall on the Madison campus. It’s the home of the university’s dairy plant, dairy store and food-science department as well as the UW-Center for Dairy Research.
Lynn Grooms writes about the diversity of agriculture, including the industry’s newest ideas, research and technologies as a staff reporter for Agri-View based in Wisconsin.
● UW-Babcock Hall was built in 1951. Currently it houses the UW-Department of Food Science, the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant, the Babcock Hall Dairy Store and the UW-Center for Dairy Research
● The recently completed $72.9 million project renovated the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant on its existing footprint. It constructed a new three-story addition for the UW-Center for Dairy Research.
● The construction project represented the first major upgrade to the Babcock Hall Dairy Plant since it was built in 1951.
● Project funding came from private donors, the State of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. About 200 private donors – mostly from the state’s cheese industry – raised more than $18 million to support the project.
● Total square footage of entire project – including renovation and addition – is about 77,400 square feet. The Dairy Plant renovation involved about 28,900 gross square feet. The Center for Dairy Research addition involved about 48,500 gross square feet.
● The Babcock Hall Dairy Plant produces bottled milk, cheese and ice cream for on-campus and some off-campus retail sites. It serves as a laboratory and learning facility for students, university researchers and industry personnel.
● The renovation modernizes the Dairy Plant, adding a new high-flow ice-cream maker, automation with human-machine-interface touch screens, more freezer and cooler space, new deep-freezer storage racking for increased ice cream product-distribution efficiency, an improved raw-milk receiving bay, new quality-control laboratory space, and new piping, tanks, pumps and valves to more efficiently move milk and milk products around the plant.
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MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Agriculture Youth Council members met Dec. 18, 2025. Council members, all Wisconsin high school seniors, served …
John Lucey, director of the Center for Dairy Research, describes a new aseptic line and aseptic bag filler. The equipment can be used to produce shelf-stable dairy-based beverages. Such beverages have significant potential for export to countries where refrigeration is limited, he says.
Ben Ullerup-Mathers is a research cheesemaker at the Center for Dairy Research. The expanded center's new environmentally controlled cheese 'caves' enable researchers to experiment with more varieties of blue cheese, he says.
The UW-Center for Dairy Research expansion project is supported by several companies and organizations. The total cost of the Babcock Hall renovation and expansion project was $72.9 million. Donors – primarily from the state’s cheese industry – raised more than $18 million to support the project.
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