Ryan Bilyeu and his students, Nate Case, spring 2023 graduate, and Madison Calton, spring 2023 graduate, work to maintain the College's dairy herd.

An Excerpt from "The Dairy Farm: The College’s Not-So-Hidden Gem"

Devoted to hard work and the success of the dairy industry on campus, College of the Ozarks staff and students work together in a special and unique place on campus: the dairy farm. They love what they do and are committed to their workplace. This becomes evident as guests visit and watch the cows being milked, walk through the barns with newborn calves, and interact with student workers. The future of the dairy industry begins right here on campus as students encounter the difficulties and joys of running a dairy farm.  

Students who work in the dairy put in 12-20 hours per week, depending on if they work the weekend as well. This does not include the staff who put in anywhere from 40-55 hours per week. There are approximately 30 students working in the dairy, and each student works two or three shifts each week. Ryan Bilyeu, dairy manager, and alum of the College, shared about the mix of students working in his workstation.

Students run every aspect of the dairy and get hands on learning daily.

Running a dairy farm requires a lot of different pieces. There are cows to take care of, bottle-feeding, milking, mixing of feed for the cows, and so on. Those are different areas where students serve and require constant attention.

“What is unique about our farm is that we are a college campus, and we have a processing facility. The processing and bottling is done with the students, which is another added level to our dairy farm,” Bilyeu said. “The cool thing is that students get to see it full circle. They see the baby calf born, growing up, calve for the first time herself, start milking, the milk will be processed, and the milk will be delivered to the consumer. To see the consumer drink the milk with a smile makes us excited about all the hard work we have done, knowing it’s all worth it – waking up early, sweating a lot.”

Madison Calton, spring 2023 graduate, is one of 30 students that work hard to make the dairy a success

Dairy featured on RFD-TV

In Spring 2023,the College of the Ozarks dairy farm was featured on the television program, “Holstein America,” on RFD-TV. The video feature was created in December 2022 by a team of videogrophers and headed by Eric Grant, of Grant Company and in association with Holstein USA. Grant visited the campus and spent time in the dairy operation for a 24-hour immersive experience and during that time interviewed many of the dairy students and staff members on campus.

Devoted to hard work and the success of the dairy industry on campus, the dairy staff and students work together in a special and unique place on campus. They love what they do and are committed to their workplace. This becomes evident as guests visit and watch the cows being milked, walk through the barns with newborn calves, and interact with student workers.

Madison Calton, senior agricultural business major from Tishomingo, Oklahoma, said about the experience, “It has been fun to see our work showcased in this way. We don’t expect that, but it’s great to see others on our campus and beyond get a fuller glimpse of what we do and how rewarding it truly is. We are a family here in our workstation, and the animals are definitely a part of that.”

Read about the Dairy on page 10!

Resources and Links

Learn more about the W. Alton Dairy by following these resources:

To read about the Dairy's mission and students in the Ozark Visitor story, "The College’s Not-So-Hidden Gem," click HERE

To listen to Ryan Bilyeu and two of his students talk about their love for the Dairy on episode two of the Our Story Podcast, click HERE

To leard about the Dairy's special feature in RFD-TV, click HERE

To watch the Dairy in action on the RFD-TV feature, click HERE