Kennedy Bates
Winding through the streets of Upper Arlington on the way to Lane Avenue, past the high school, through the neighborhoods, driving past trees and yards and “UA bear lives here” signs, an unusual sight awaits on North Star Road: a Columbus skyline, and in the foreground, a herd of cows.
Although it’s a peculiar sight, the cows are beloved by many UA residents.
“I love that [the cows] are so close to UA and that you drive down North Star and there they are,” Upper Arlington High School Media Clerk Erin Schumacher said.
However, for the past few years the prime viewing spot on North Star has been noticeably empty.
The cows are a central part of the Ohio State University’s agriculture program, and typically reside at the Waterman Dairy Center. The program was created in 1870, with the cows arriving in the 1930s. They were moved to their Lane Avenue location in the 1970s, according to Dairy Center Manager John Lemmermen.
“[The cows have] been on this farm since the early 70s, but before they used to be right across the river by The Horseshoe. The cows would go underneath the river through tunnels, and they would graze around the stadium,” Lemmermen said.
But where are the cows now? The cows were moved to a different OSU location in Wooster, Ohio, around December of 2023, while their facility underwent a full robotic renovation.
The new farm will be equipped with robots to track data on the cows, as well as perform the day-to-day tasks involved with farming. Before the renovation, agriculture students and farm staff would milk the cows and feed them by hand, at 3:45 a.m. and p.m. every day. With the new editions of milking robots, cleaning robots and feeding robots, the work will shift from manual to automated.
“We can set limits on it, [and] feed them grain in it. This barn’s designed for the cows to be on their own schedule,” Lemmerman said. “We’re building everything brand new.”
The cow lovers of UA are excited to see it.
“I’m super excited about the new technology,” Schumacher said.
While the facility has been closed for almost three years, according to Herd Manager Nate Ellis, the cows are being well taken care of in the meantime.
“Generally every Wednesday we’ll go up there and walk through the herd and make sure everything’s looking good,” Ellis said. “Everything seems to be going really well so far though.”
The cows are expected to return in early 2026, and the farm and UA residents are looking forward to welcoming them back. Particularly senior Irulan Khan, who grew up across the street from the cows, and had some insight into farm-adjacent living.
“I really enjoy just being able to have them, it’s so nice being surrounded by nature and having them so close to my house because we live in the city,” she said. “One time one of the cows broke out of the fence and it went into the street in the middle of the night, and it started mooing so loudly. The cops had to come and try to lure it back into the barn, but it wasn’t working. That’s a funny memory. I definitely miss them.”
In the midst of the dozens of restaurants, stores, offices and apartments on Lane Avenue, it can be easy to forget that right around the corner lies something truly Ohioan: a farm.
And as Lemmermen put plainly, “I’m really excited to get my cows back.”