LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky broke ground May 23 on a $65.9 million, 52,600-square-foot facility that will house the new Forage Animal Production Research Lab on campus, according to officials.

“Today’s groundbreaking for the Forage Animal Production Lab speaks to the heart of what a land-grant institution, like ours, is so distinctively positioned to do – to take basic scientific discovery and apply that knowledge to applications that can be transferred directly to producers,” said Eli Capilouto, UK president.

Capilouto joined U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, and officials from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the UK’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment in a groundbreaking ceremony on the university’s campus.

The new facility will encompass about 52,600 total square feet of office, support and research laboratory space, as well as a collaborative area, headhouse, and eight-bay greenhouses.

In addition, the new building will be staffed by six Agricultural Research Service scientists and seven UK researchers, along with laboratory technicians and administrative personnel.

Research conducted there, among other projects, will include developing sustainable forage systems to ensure the performance and health of beef cattle and small ruminants such as sheep and goats.

Nancy Cox, dean of the UK College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and vice president for Land-grant Engagement, said this will minimize the incidence of tall fescue plant (a prominent forage for beef cattle) toxicosis, evaluate the potential of natural antibiotic alternatives to improve nitrogen efficiency, and reduce enteric methane emissions by cattle.

“This new facility will ensure continued innovative research for grazing-related industries,” she said.

Kristi Willett, UK executive director of public relations and strategic communications, said the project was first conceived more than a decade ago, with the $65.9 million funding secured by McConnell through congressional appropriation in late 2019.

“For a long time, I’ve said Kentucky’s farmers are some of the best in the world,” McConnell said. “As a senior member of both the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and Appropriations Committee, I’ve firmly focused my career on supporting agricultural communities across the Commonwealth, and this research facility builds on that commitment in a big way.”

Willett said the mission of the Forage-Animal Production Research Unit is to improve the productivity, sustainability, and competitiveness of forage-based enterprises that raise beef cattle, horses, sheep and goats.

She said is particularly true for operators of small- to medium-sized farms in the Transition Zone growing region (the growing area across the middle of the U.S., one between the warm area in the south, and the cool area in the north).

“This modernized research facility reflects the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service’s and the University of Kentucky’s shared interest in lifting the country’s forage-based enterprises to new heights of sustainability, profitability and competitiveness on the world stage,” she said.

“As a state that falls within the transition zone of the eastern and Midwestern United States, Kentucky is strategically positioned to serve as a kind of forage research epicenter,” she added.

She said, “The planned 2026 completion of a new (Forage Animal Production Lab) building in Lexington will usher in important design upgrades and functionality, allowing more opportunities for USDA and University of Kentucky researchers to collaborate on projects of regional and national significance.”

Vilsack said, “Today’s groundbreaking builds on more than two decades of partnership with the University of Kentucky, while demonstrating the USDA’s latest commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible for agriculture, and to creating profitable and sustainable systems, rooted in science, that will advance farmers’ production for years to come.”