The ISU Dairy Farm will be hosting its ninth annual open house on its 887 acre land off of 260th St. in Ames from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday.

The event is part of the June Dairy Month Celebration.

Tours will be given every 30 minutes with stops at the milking parlor, milk house and dairy barns.

Visitors will also be able to sample free dairy products – as well as learn about commodity group activities in the Ag Discovery Center.

Overall, the open house will include modern technology demonstrations and best practices in animal care, product quality, etc.

Because of biosecurity issues and to caution the safety of the animals, visitors will not necessarily be able to touch the cows but they will be in the same proximity as them and may have a chance to interact with the baby calves on the farm, said Leo Timms, professor in animal science.

“We just want [the visitors] to come with enthusiasm.” Timms said. “We’re just trying to have a fun day.”

The state of Iowa ranks number 12 in the nation regarding the number of pounds of milk produced, number of cows and milk produced per cow. Iowa is home to around 1,400 dairy farms.

The ISU Dairy Farm alone, which opened in 2007, has 400 milking cows, each cow producing around 84 pounds of milk each day.

Anyone wanting to visit the farm after just returning from a trip abroad is asked to wait at least five days.

Information on private tours can be found by contacting the farm manager through the Iowa State University Department of Animal Science website.