A tour group visits the Idaho Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment in Rupert. (Bill Schaefer/University of Idaho)

The University of Idaho seeks applicants with dairy management experience to serve as director of operations and finance at a major research facility under development near Rupert.

The Idaho Center for Food, Agriculture and the Environment, slated to be the nation’s largest research dairy, is expected to start milking by early 2026 and to eventually have a herd of more than 2,000 cows, according to a news release. Research at the facility will focus on addressing complex issues pertaining to environmental sustainability.

The new job will entail oversight of all dairy operations including cows, feed, employees, equipment and monitoring daily activities to ensure quality.

“Hiring a director of operations and finance for CAFE is a crucial step for several reasons, particularly as we prepare to milk cows in 2026,” Mireille Chahine, acting head of the UI department of animal, veterinary and food sciences, told Capital Press.

The director will help recruit and hire “a high-functioning team needed to start milking cows and support both research and production” and will “help ensure that all the moving parts operate smoothly and efficiently.”

The university “has already been working diligently to hire faculty positions associated with CAFE,” she said.

UI already hired assistant professors and extension specialists Izabelle Teixeira, who has expertise in dairy sustainability and nutrition; Gilbert Miito, who has expertise in air quality; Pramod Acharya, who is focused on forage agronomy; and Emily Bedwell, who specializes in irrigation.

In hiring an operations and finance director for CAFE, the university requires candidates to have at least five years of experience managing a dairy of comparable size or larger, according to the release. Other required experience includes managing crop production and applying dairy byproducts, managing staff and operating heavy equipment.

Candidates should have an agricultural background or a bachelor’s degree in dairy science.

Applications received by July 1 will receive first consideration, officials said. The salary will be $100,000 or more, depending on experience.

CAFE has been made possible by a partnership involving UI, industry and government, according to the university.

In 2017, the legislature appropriated $10 million from the state’s permanent building fund to help finance the project.

In September 2022, the state board of land commissioners awarded $23.25 million toward CAFE from the sale of UI endowment land in Caldwell that was no longer being used for experimental farming.

During the 2025 legislative session, the legislature appropriated $250,000 toward building maintenance funds for the new milking parlor.

“We are excited to see this project come to fruition and are looking forward to cows being milked at the facility,” Chanine said. “The support from our partners and stakeholders has been overwhelming and truly appreciated.”