UWRF’s dairy pilot plant begins production

Four months after the grand reopening of UW-River Falls’ dairy pilot plant, production is now underway. The newly-renovated facility, recently renamed the Wuethrich Family/Grassland Dairy Center of Excellence, cleared inspection on Feb. 5, allowing UWRF to produce dairy products for sale and consumption. The week of Feb. 12 saw the plant’s first production run. 

Rueben Nilsson became the new manager of the plant in December, taking over for long-time manager Michelle Farner. Previously, Farner was in charge of developing the renovation, and, now, Nilsson is in charge of utilizing it.

The plant holds the necessary equipment for larger corporations to utilize for small-scale production and research. “If a company wants to try a new formulation of their ice cream or a different flavor of cheese, they can use our facility to produce 300 pounds instead of 30,000 pounds,” Nilsson said. Multiple companies have already reached out about incorporating the pilot plant into their research and development. 

To distribute dairy products that the plant produces, Nilsson is looking to reopen Freddy’s Dairy Bar in UWRF’s Agricultural Science Building immediately following spring break, which falls the week of March 17 to March  23. The plant will also distribute its product via an online store, which will then be delivered by mail service across campus. Nilsson also hopes to sell ice cream pints and cheese curds in the C-Store at the University Center.

Nilsson admitted to the slow-moving process of distributing products off-campus. “Because there was such a big gap between the last time we produced our own product and today, those sales channels need to get rebuilt,” Nilsson said. 

In time, the plant expects to distribute its product to the local community and businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores. After over a decade of donations, delay, and development, the plant has taken its first steps toward producing high-quality dairy products and bringing them to the UW-River Falls community and beyond.