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Remodeled college dairy plant opens

PHOTO: UW-River Falls officials and agriculture business leaders celebrate the grand opening Friday of the Wuethrich Family/Grassland Dairy Center of Excellence, a $9 million facility that will provide students and dairy employees high-tech, hands-on training opportunities. UWRF/Pat Deninger photo

The newly-remodeled dairy plant at the University of Wisconsin River Falls officially opened Friday.

The college operates Mann Valley Farm, which includes dairy cattle and hosts several research projects, but the campus dairy processing plant was closed five years ago because of outdated machinery.  The six-thousand square foot plant now has a nine-million dollar upgrade that will serve as a hub for students and the dairy industry to provide hands-on training and research.

The River Falls site was renamed for the Wuethrich Family Foundation and Grassland Dairy Products of Greenwood after a one million dollar investment in the facility, saying many of their employees are UW-River Falls graduates.