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Four friendly barn cats roamed the forests, pastures and crop lands that make up the 500-acre J. F. Witter Teaching and Research Farm. The cats are not alone – they share the farm with more than 60 cows, several horses and some newborn sheep.
Charles Wallace, chair of the Department of Animal and Horticultural Sciences, said the farm is funded by the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and also raises money from the products it sells.
The J. F. Witter Teaching and Research Farm, located one mile from campus on the edge of the University of Maine’s land in Old Town, has undergone many changes since it opened. For a large part of UMaine’s history the farm was based on campus. However, due to the growth of the university and a fire that all but destroyed one of the university’s dairy barns in 1972, the J. Franklin Witter Animal Science Center was built off-campus to house the dairy cows, along with some poultry and sheep. In 1996, after years of budget cuts and downsizing, the animals were sold and the farm closed its doors. However, the money from the sale of the animals provided much needed funds for renovations and the farm was able to reopen as the J. F. Witter Teaching and Research Center Farm in 1998.
Recently, the farm has undergone further renovations to buildings, including the construction of a new indoor riding ring by students last year on Maine Day. A cow barn with more room and less concrete has also been recently added to the farm property. Students are currently fund raising to turn the old cow barn into a larger indoor riding ring.
Today, about 90 registered Holstein dairy cows and heifers, 35 Black Angus and Belted Galloway beef cattle, 32 standard-bred horses and a flock of Suffolk sheep call the farm home. Fifteen of the horses are student-owned and board at the farm for a fee of $150 a month. The newest additions to the farm include two donated miniature horses, Annex and Nasdaq and eight baby lambs. In the next few weeks three more lambs and at least two calves are expected. All of the animals are registered and the majority of them are owned by or donated to the university.
But there are no pigs, chickens or other farm animals at Whitter.
“We are a teaching and research farm,” Marcy Guillette said. “Hence we try to use everything for both [and] no one is currently using pigs or chickens.”
Guillette, a graduate of the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s in animal science, has been working at the farm since 1997 and is the livestock manager at the Whitter Center. She lives in the white house on the farm property in order to be there for the animals at all times.
“It is important to have someone here all the time because animals and everything that goes with them can sometimes be unpredictable,” Guillette said.
However, she does have an assistant that can take care of things when she is away.
Although there are numerous students involved with the Witter Center, Kiera Finucane, a third year animal science major with a concentration in pre-veterinary, explained that there is a core group of about 20 students that are deeply involved in the farm.
“We get hooked and can’t seem to leave,” Finucane said.
The students take turns doing chores, including cleaning stalls and feeding and looking after the everyday needs of the farm and the animals. New equipment, such as a handling pen and improved feed receptacles make the chores easier and safer for both the students and the animals.
The cows are milked twice a day, once at 4 a.m. and again at 4 p.m. All the milk is then locally sold to Garrelick Farms.
As an interactive center for learning, the farm is also home of the Maine Relief Milkers Program. In the program, trainees can learn how to milk a cow and gain knowledge of the basics of milk production and caring for dairy cows in order to take the place of dairy farmers so they can have a break.
Many different student organizations use the farm as a learning tool, which is the purpose of the farm.
“The Witter Center is the most integrated into the university’s teaching mission, with heavy emphasis placed on student use,” a pamphlet about the farm reads.
At any time during the day, you will find students completely immersed in all aspects of farm life. Many of these students take part in the University of Maine Applied Dairy Cooperative of Organized Working Students also known as UMAD COWS. The program helps students learn how to run a dairy farm.
The Maine Animal Club also uses the farm. According to a MAC flyer, MAC is a group of students from various majors, not just animal science, who are interested in learning more and teaching others about animals.
On the weekend of Feb. 16, MAC participated in the annual Northeast Student Affiliate competition.
“UMaine faired very well,” said Jonah B. Alexander, a senior Resource and Agribusiness Management major.
The competition consisted of eight universities that compete in livestock judging, an animal science quiz bowl and paper presentations. UMaine took second place in the category of Overall University and won many other awards, as well.
Last weekend at a competition in Freeport, the equestrian team was also successful.
“[We had the] biggest turnout since we’ve been competing as a team,” said Sarah Johnston, a third year animal science major and member of the team. Everyone on the team placed and received ribbons.
The farm’s first priority is to serve as a learning space for students, therefore, research projects are constantly being done there. Some of the most recent topics, according to the pamphlet, have included work with fertility problems in horses and cows, nutrient use by dairy animals and discovering ways to improve forage quality through biological additives.
Whitter Farm staff hopes that this research will have far-reaching effects and help improve farming.
“As the only agricultural program that offers degrees in the state the farm is critical to UMaine as part of the Land Grant Mission,” Wallace said. “It makes us unique in the state and allows us to be a support of animal agriculture in Maine.”
The spring will prove to be a busy time for those involved with the farm. Besides the expected arrival of more lambs and calves, the farm will take part in several events. The first weekend in May it will host a horse show. The Orono Royal Weekend will begin on May 11 and will include an open house of the farm.
As well as serving as a place for students to experiment and learn, the farm is open to the public. Each year a large number of children and community members visit the farm. The farm is located at 572 College Ave. in Old Town.
Bangor Daily News