Pictured from left to right: Luana Dantas Queiroz, the University of Wisconsin’s new alfalfa outreach specialist, joins the tour on her first day. She will work to connect research to producers through field trials and education focused on forage legumes and integrated systems. Dennis Hancock directs the USDA Dairy Forage Research Center, overseeing research units in dairy forage, cereal crops and vegetable crops along with farm operations and facility development. Image by Marian Viney.

“It’s a machine shop on steroids,” says Dennis Hancock, and the results speak for themselves. Where imagination meets the metal, precision fabrication begins – from custom prototypes to complex assemblies, the staff translates research visions into engineered realities. Image by Marian Viney.

This is one of the laboratories in the DFRC. Image by Marian Viney.

This Wiley mill grinder is designed for grinding materials to a powder with minimal moisture loss. It is commonly used in agriculture and soil science laboratories but can be used for a wide variety of materials. The mill consists of a hopper for loading materials, revolving hard tool steel blades and a steel screen to separate the powdered material. It is particularly effective for grinding plant-based and fibrous materials such as leaves, seeds and forage samples. The mill is open and partially disassembled for cleaning. Image by Marian Viney.

Fecal samples that have been dried, ground and prepped for determination of undigested fiber, protein and starch await analysis. Such studies guide nutritionists developing better rations for dairy cattle. Image by Marian Viney.

Dennis Hancock refers to this as the Million Dollar Room. The equipment in this laboratory is valued at more than $1 million and is crucial to assessing the nutritional and metabolic impacts of forages on dairy cow performance. Image courtesy of the USDA-DFRC.

Thad Deiss, a post-doctoral associate, works in Wenli Li's laboratory in the DFRC. “We do a lot of genetic research, and if I'm doing it by hand, I can handle maybe 16 at a time – it's an eight-hour process. This robot can do 96 at a time – it works four hours. This black box is our single cell. We load cells or nuclei into that, and it takes and has a microfluidic system where it will capture a single cell. It's less than a cell. A lot of them are empty per oil droplet, so we can get all the genetic information of that cell, and we can catch up to 20,000 at a time to get a better idea of what's going on in a tissue, or we see microbes within that cell for every organ. It's an expensive assay, so we use it primarily when focusing on critical research related to the liver, small intestine and large intestine.” Image by Marian Viney.

This is the robot that Thad Deiss was talking about. Image by Marian Viney.

Each year, the DFRC employs 15 to 25 students, though the bulk of these are during the summer months. In this photo, a student is pipetting material for analysis. Image by Marian Viney.

One of the USDA-DFRC’s many freezers for storing forage samples is set to minus 80ºC. A home freezer is minus 10ºC to minus 15ºC. This temperature prevents any oxidation or breakdown of the samples, including genetic tissue, and prepares for freeze drying. Image by Marian Viney.

Preparations are made to measure aggregate size and stability in the soil of samples from cover crops. Soils where cover crops or perennial forages are produced generally have larger and more stable aggregates, which allows for greater aeration, drainage and water infiltration rates. Image by Marian Viney.

This piece of equipment is used to measure the carbon and nitrogen content of samples (forage, feed, manure or soil). Samples are combusted in a 1,400ºC furnace, and gases from the burning sample are measured to determine carbon and nitrogen content. Image by Marian Viney.

A near-infrared spectrometer (NIRS) uses near-infrared light to rapidly assess the chemical composition of samples – especially useful in agriculture for forage quality analysis (moisture, protein, fiber, starch), feed ingredient screening and real-time nutrient profiling in laboratory or field settings. Image by Marian Viney.

The chart outlines major absorption bands – specific wavelengths where chemical groups like water, protein and cellulose absorb NIR light. These bands help the instrument interpret what’s in the sample based on how it reflects or absorbs light. Image by Marian Viney.

While this is an impressive-looking setup for Kjeldahl nitrogen analysis, it is rather outdated. These days, the DFRC has far more sophisticated approaches to protein analysis. Image by Marian Viney.

Technicians and graduate students at the DFRC prepare to fly a drone over the center’s plant breeding nursery. Using multispectral imagery from the drone’s onboard cameras, the center’s forage breeders can identify vigorous, high-yielding and high-quality varieties from several thousand plants at a given time. The data are more precise and reliable than visual ratings and using drone data is 10 times faster. Image courtesy of the USDA-DFRC.

Wayne Zeller is working on the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscope, which is used to determine the structure, purity and dynamics of molecules – especially organic compounds. Image courtesy of the USDA-DFRC.

Wayne Zeller is the center’s resident chemist, and his work on condensed tannins is doing more than protecting protein – it’s helping grazing animals stay healthier and more efficient. Forages like Sericea lespedeza deliver natural parasite control, reduce methane loss and improve nutrient uptake. That’s a win for goats, sheep and even larger livestock in forage-based systems. Image by Marian Viney.

Dennis Hancock holds a portable spectrometer that is used for field-based forage or soils analysis. Image by Marian Viney.

The U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center Farm is 30 miles northwest of Madison on gently sloping acres bordering the Wisconsin River near Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The 2,200-acre, 390-cow dairy farm is an integral part of the center's research mission, which is to provide solutions for dairy producers, ensure food security, enhance environmental sustainability and increase economic viability. The farm operates jointly with the University of Wisconsin (UW) – Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Agricultural Research Stations. The dairy herd and research facility are also available to UW – Madison agricultural scientists. Most of the 2,200 acres at the farm produce feed for the dairy herd. In turn, the fields are fertilized by manure from the cattle in a natural cycle. Regular farm fields are also used to study cropping systems and manure management. Smaller research plots are used for grazing research, as plant nurseries and to grow small amounts of forage needed for digestion and nutrition research. Crops grown on the farm include corn for grain and silage, alfalfa for silage and hay, soybeans and winter wheat. There are also about 60 acres of pasture used to graze heifers and dry cows for about six months each year. In addition, about 800 acres consist of woodlands, roads and buildings. Image courtesy of the USDA-DFRC.