Davis Dairy Plant

Building Description

As with the original building, the new facility houses dairy husbandry and bacteriology as well as a dairy products laboratory and the SDSU Dairy Bar.

The products to make ice cream, cheese and butter, which start at SDSU’s own dairy farm, are brought to the plant twice a week.

There is a high temperature, short-time room, where milk is separated and pasteurized. Cheese is also made in this room. A separate room in the plant is used to cut and package cheese in sizes that range from 20-pound blocks into shelf sizes. Two walk-in coolers store cheese until they go out for sale.

There is an evaporation and dry room, with filtration units throughout the entire plant. Positive air pressure is used to prevent products from becoming contaminated by bacteria.

Ice cream has its own room in the plant. Visitors can see students making ice cream through windows from inside the Dairy Bar.

The newly added manufacturing plant was financed through private giving with most of it coming from the dairy industry. The Gonzenbachs, Valley Queen Cheese and Davisco Foods were major contributors. The Davis Dairy Plant takes its name from the Davis family, owners of Davisco Foods International in Le Sueur, Minnesota. In addition to remodeling the existing dairy plant, the project added 10,850 square feet of space, creating a state-of-the-art plant totaling 17,900 square feet. The original facility was completed in 1962 with an $800,000 appropriation from the state legislature.

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