{"id":5865,"date":"2024-05-10T16:29:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T20:29:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/?p=5865"},"modified":"2024-06-07T14:28:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T18:28:42","slug":"new-cows-on-the-block-witter-farm-welcomes-14-new-heifers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/2024\/05\/10\/new-cows-on-the-block-witter-farm-welcomes-14-new-heifers\/","title":{"rendered":"New cows on the block: Witter Farm welcomes 14 new heifers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, May 10, 2024 Witter Farm welcomed 14 new heifers (female cattle that have not yet given birth). The Holstein heifers were selected from the stock available at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oakhurstdairy.com\/what-drives-us\/family-farms\/gold-top-farm\/\">Gold Top Farm<\/a> in Knox, Maine. The lovely ladies were excited to arrive at their new home:<\/p>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist wp-video-playlist wp-playlist-light\">\n\t\t<video controls=\"controls\" preload=\"none\" width=\"1246\"\n\t\t height=\"702\"\t><\/video>\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-next\"><\/div>\n\t<div class=\"wp-playlist-prev\"><\/div>\n\t<noscript>\n\t<ol>\n\t\t<li><a href="https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4664.mov">IMG_4664<\/a><\/li>\t<\/ol>\n\t<\/noscript>\n\t<script type=\"application\/json\" class=\"wp-playlist-script\">{\"type\":\"video\",\"tracklist\":true,\"tracknumbers\":true,\"images\":true,\"artists\":true,\"tracks\":[{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/umaine.edu\\\/mafes\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/98\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/IMG_4664.mov\",\"type\":\"video\\\/quicktime\",\"title\":\"IMG_4664\",\"caption\":\"Heifers frolic in their new pasture. They will remain here under quarantine for three months before joining the rest of the Witter herd. Video from Superintendent Patricia Henderson.\",\"description\":\"\",\"meta\":{\"length_formatted\":\"0:14\"},\"dimensions\":{\"original\":{\"width\":568,\"height\":320},\"resized\":{\"width\":1246,\"height\":702}},\"image\":{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/umaine.edu\\\/mafes\\\/wp-content\\\/themes\\\/umaine\\\/assets\\\/images\\\/resources\\\/link.png\",\"width\":48,\"height\":64},\"thumb\":{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/umaine.edu\\\/mafes\\\/wp-content\\\/themes\\\/umaine\\\/assets\\\/images\\\/resources\\\/link.png\",\"width\":48,\"height\":64}}]}<\/script>\n<\/div>\n\t\n<p>The introduction of new stock to the Witter Farm&#8217;s dairy herd represents a historic moment in the 91±¬ΑΟ&#8217;s storied dairy legacy. 91±¬ΑΟ has maintained a dairy farm on campus for nearly a century and some of the cows at Witter Farm today can trace their lineage back to 1948. Since then Witter herd&#8217;s establishment no more than one cow has been purchased and added to the herd at a time. It hasn&#8217;t always been easier for 91±¬ΑΟ&#8217;s dairy cows. A fire in the early 1970&#8217;s destroyed&nbsp; the original barn, leading to the construction of the Witter Farm and the herd was relocated. The Witter herd has fluctuated in size from highs of over 100 cows to lows of just a couple dozen. The introduction of these heifers will bring their numbers back up ~40 individuals.<\/p>\n<p>Bolstering the size of the Witter herd is important at this time as construction of a new dairy barn breaks ground this May. The new dairy barn will house a state-of-the-art milking robot. With more space, new technologies, and a larger herd students and researchers will have novel opportunities to study dairy production and animal husbandry in Maine.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>WITTER FARM IS CURRENTLY CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC FOR CONSTRUCTION. WE PLAN TO BE OPEN AGAIN IN 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-5865 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href="https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/2024\/05\/10\/new-cows-on-the-block-witter-farm-welcomes-14-new-heifers\/img_4645\/"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4645-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail 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style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href="https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/2024\/05\/10\/new-cows-on-the-block-witter-farm-welcomes-14-new-heifers\/img_4657\/"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4657-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5881\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4657-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4657-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5881'>\n\t\t\t\tFerny\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href="https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/2024\/05\/10\/new-cows-on-the-block-witter-farm-welcomes-14-new-heifers\/img_4640\/"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4640-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4640-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4640-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href="https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/2024\/05\/10\/new-cows-on-the-block-witter-farm-welcomes-14-new-heifers\/img_4641\/"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4641-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4641-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4641-32x32.jpg 32w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Wednesday, May 10, 2024 Witter Farm welcomed 14 new heifers (female cattle that have not yet given birth). The Holstein heifers were selected from the stock available at Gold Top Farm in Knox, Maine. The lovely ladies were excited to arrive at their new home: The introduction of new stock to the Witter Farm&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2406,"featured_media":5871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":-1},"categories":[43,51,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-food-science-and-nutrition","category-livestock"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Agriculture"},{"value":51,"label":"Food Science and Nutrition"},{"value":53,"label":"Livestock"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2024\/05\/IMG_4647-2-1024x768.jpg",1024,768,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"lhecker","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/author\/lhecker\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":43,"name":"Agriculture","slug":"agriculture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":44,"count":62,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":43,"category_count":62,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Agriculture","category_nicename":"agriculture","category_parent":44},{"term_id":51,"name":"Food Science and Nutrition","slug":"food-science-and-nutrition","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":51,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":44,"count":22,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":51,"category_count":22,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Food Science and Nutrition","category_nicename":"food-science-and-nutrition","category_parent":44},{"term_id":53,"name":"Livestock","slug":"livestock","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":53,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":44,"count":19,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":53,"category_count":19,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Livestock","category_nicename":"livestock","category_parent":44}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2406"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5865"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5886,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5865\/revisions\/5886"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}