Since the 1950s, MU has owned a dairy farm that is now for sale with a price tag of $4.8 million.
The Midway Dairy Farm is a 320-acre rectangle of land next to MU’s Foremost Dairy Farm. It is off Old Highway 40, about 10 miles northwest of Columbia’s city centre.
Christian Basi, MU’s spokesman, said that the Midway property isn’t used much by MU right now. He said that it is only used for grazing, growing some corn and soybeans, and housing replacement cows.
Basi said that because of the size and value of the Midway land, MU decided to put it up for sale so it could use the money to reinvest in the larger Foremost Dairy Farm, which is used a lot for agriculture and research.
Basi said, “The Foremost Dairy Farm is one of our farms where we learn new techniques and technologies that we can share with farmers all over Missouri and beyond.” “(This research helps farmers) do their jobs better as they continue to grow food for everyone.”
Near the end of December, MU put the Midway Dairy Farm on the market. Mark Robb, the real estate agent from Mid America Land Services that MU is working with, said that several potential buyers have already put in bids. The UM Board of Curators is in charge of talking about the offers, negotiating the prices, and making sure the sale goes through.
Robb said that a lot of people are interested in the land because it is in a very desirable area and has four different sizes of water lines and road frontage. He said it would be easy to make.
Basi said that putting money from Midway into Foremost would mean making several repairs and improvements. Plans include updating its milking parlour, farm software, and replacement cow housing, as well as getting auto-feed technology, a covered calf-rearing facility, and possibly hiring a new dairy research faculty member.
Basi said that these changes to Foremost will give students and researchers the best possible experience for their dairy farming education and projects, which will help them continue to help Missouri agriculture.
