Progress update from Dairy Innovation Hub
*This statement was sent to Dairy Innovation Hub partners from Dr. Heather White, faculty director on behalf of the three ag deans.
I am writing to provide a progress update from the Dairy Innovation Hub and our three campus collaborators.
As you know, we are in a time of great uncertainty. Despite extremely unusual operating conditions at all three campuses and throughout the dairy community, we are pleased with our progress, having met or exceeded all internal timelines for project decisions for our current fiscal year, as well as plans for year two.
Thanks to your advocacy, the State of Wisconsin included funding for the Dairy Innovation Hub in the current biennial budget, approving $1M in state funding in the first year (the fiscal year that ends on June 30) and $7.8M in the second year beginning July 1, 2020.
State leaders have been discussing a number of proposals to address anticipated revenue shortfalls in the state budget. Last month, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos released a statement advocating for freezing the state budget in fiscal year 2021 at the levels of the current fiscal year. If this change were to be passed by both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature and signed by Gov. Evers, the Dairy Innovation Hub funding in fiscal year 2021 would be $1M for the three participating UW campuses, far less than the amount we had planned in year two. With uncertainty at the moment about the state, we have slowed implementation plans until we have a better understanding of what potential changes, if any, may be made to our funding. Clarity will help guide our implementation timelines.
We know farmers, processors and related partners are eager to move forward after five years of depressed prices. With the addition of the coronavirus pandemic, there has never been a greater need for evidence-based, highly implementable, dairy research. We want to be fully transparent about our progress, and you can find a summary of our accomplishments and what we have planned for year two on our website. In addition to our planned research efforts, the Hub coordinated several COVID-19 resources, including an online form for questions related to dairy and coronavirus.
In closing, I want to thank you for all that you have done to establish the Dairy Innovation Hub. As the Hub grows in year two, we hope that you agree that continuing to invest in talent, research and development is critical to the long-term success of the dairy community and Wisconsin’s economy, image and culture. We look forward to a continued partnership on this important investment for our state.
Sincerely,
Heather, Kate, Wayne and Dale
Heather White, Dairy Innovation Hub Faculty Director
Kathryn VandenBosch, Dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UW-Madison
Wayne Weber, Dean, College of Business, Industry, Life Science and Agriculture, UW-Platteville
Dale Gallenberg, Dean, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, UW-River Falls
Campus updates
UW-Madison:
- Budget planning, steering committee selection and management, monthly meetings
- Six postdoctoral fellows awarded and working on their research at UW-Madison (2 year awards with research starting at the end of FY1 and continuing to FY3): Videos from researchers: https://bit.ly/3bHMJoO
- The genetic determinants of gastrointestinal tract colonization by Listeria monocytogenes – Aaron Gall, Department of Food Science
- Improving health and welfare of dairy cattle by synchronizing and optimizing the transition period – Pedro Monteiro, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
- Harnessing the power of computer vision systems to improve animal health and welfare in transition dairy cows – Tiago Bresolin, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
- Whey-fortified fermented milk for inhibiting intestinal inflammation – Ruma Raghuvanshi, Department of Food Science
- Efficacy of manure nutrient prediction and variable rate technology to improve nutrient use efficiency on Wisconsin dairy farms – Joseph Sanford, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
- Reducing lifecycle environmental impacts and improving profitability of Wisconsin dairy systems through improved cropping management – Susanne Wiesner, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
- Seven awards for capacity-building equipment
- Low-field nuclear magnetic resonance – Matt Digman, Biological Systems Engineering
- Near-Infrared Spectroscopy instrument – Joao Dorea, Animal and Dairy Science
- C-Lock GreenFeed unit – Michel Wattiaux, Animal and Dairy Science
- Pulsing droplet tensiometer – Rich Hartel, Food Science
- Refrigerated incubators/shaker and plate reader, Tu Anh Huynh, Food Science
- Barn video-recording system, Jennifer VanOs, Animal and Dairy Science
- Automated feeding equipment, Matt Akins, Animal and Dairy Science, Marshfield Ag Research Station
- Seven awards for short-term, high-impact projects – selections made for projects intended to start July 1, 2020
- Glycomacropeptide (GMP) derived from cheese whey: Treating obesity by manipulating satiety hormones and the gut microbiota – Denise Ney, Nutritional Sciences
- Analyzing the costs and benefits of manure management regulations for dairy farm economic viability and soil and water sustainability – Jeremy Foltz, Ag and Applied Economics
- Mobile maps for better manure management – John Panuska, Biological Systems Engineering
- Competency of flies (Diptera:Muscidae) to acquire and transmit pathogenic bacteria to dairy cows – Kerri Coon, Entomology
- Water quality, nitrogen use efficiency, and soil health: the shovel-ready projects of the UW-Discovery Farms – Matt Ruark, Soil Science
- Dairy Innovation Hub student challenge – Heidi Zoerb, External Relations
- Network analysis of dairy supply chains – Steven Deller, Ag and Applied Economics
- Developing four faculty positions and hiring procedures – in progress, targeted for hire in FY2
- Nutrient and contaminant transport through soil or water
- Clinical nutrition of dairy: Physiologic, metabolic or immunologic impacts of dairy products
- Rumen microbial physiologist: Integration of rumen and gut microbiome and host physiology
- Dairy economics and agricultural business: Dairy farm and business management; Markets, trade and policy for milk and meat products
- Call for graduate student assistantships – RFP due June 12
- Call for collaborative graduate student assistantships with UW-River Falls and UW-Platteville – RFP due June 12
UW-Platteville:
- Budget planning, steering committee and external stakeholder committee selection and management, regular meetings and communication
- Facility and infrastructure upgrades at Pioneer Farm for research and Hub collaborations
- Two faculty scientist positions – targeted
for fall 2020 start date
- Developing rank, salary and tenure procedures for research faculty positions
- Faculty search for ruminant nutritionist – interviews in progress
- Faculty search for agricultural or biosystems engineer – interviews in progress
- Seven faculty research fellowships awarded:
- Nanosculpted silicon membranes for shape-based biological separations – Mark Levenstein, Department of Biology; Gokul Gopalakrishnan, Engineering Physics Department,
- Interactions of fibroblast growth factor and protein metabolism during the postpartum period in lactating dairy cows and their effect on animal health – James Hampton, Department of Animal and Dairy Science; Krista Hardyman, DVM, Department of Animal and Dairy Science
- Local virtual enclosures to enforce managed grazing – Harold T. (Hal) Evensen, Department of Engineering Physics; Cyrus Habibi, Department of Electrical Engineering; Andrew Cartmill, Department of Soil & Crop Science; Chris Wilson, farmer and community partner
- Bringing artificial intelligence to the dairy barn – Asad Azemi, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Mehdi Roopaei, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Krista Hardyman, DVM, Department of Animal and Dairy Science; James Hampton, Department of Animal and Dairy Science
- Changing agricultural land: Understanding impacts on southern Wisconsin’s dairy farms and rural communities – Claudine Pied, Department of Social Sciences; Shan Sappleton, Department of Social Sciences
- Measuring the rheological properties of ice cream to predict its mouth-feel sensations – Bidhan C. Roy, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; Tom Zolper, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
- Development of milk-protein-based 3D printing biocomposites using spoiled milk and whey from dairy processing waste – Joseph Wu, Department of Chemistry; John Obielodan, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
- Call for supplies and equipment proposals – RFP due June 1
- Developing research scientist and support staff positions in agro-ecosystems and dairy herd management
- Call for collaborative graduate student assistantships with UW-River Falls and UW-Platteville – RFP due June 12
UW-River Falls:
- Budget planning, steering committee selection and management, regular meetings
- Consultations with CAFES department chairs and UWRF administration
- Six faculty research fellowships awarded: Videos from researchers: https://bit.ly/2YZbxFY
- Analysis and publication of research data on Johne’s Disease in dairy cattle – Larry Baumann, Department of Animal and Food Science
- Calf management practices, animal welfare and the social sustainability of the dairy industry – Albert Boaitey, Department of Department of Agricultural Economics
- Strategic study of factors influencing contaminant transport from the land surface into aquifers – Jill Coleman Wasik, Department of Plant and Earth Science
- Novel dairy cropping systems to enhance economic and environmental resilience of Wisconsin dairy farms – Veronica Justen, Department of Plant and Earth Science
- Improving the health and welfare of dairy calves – Sylvia Kehoe, Department of Animal and Food Science
- UWRF Mann Valley Farm bovine compost research expansion – Patrick Woolcock, Department of Agricultural Engineering Technology
- Call for supplies and equipment proposals – selections made, purchases in progress
- FY1
- Superhutches for 2 – 5-month heifers (allows additional wet calf capacity in existing barn) – Kehoe, Sylvia; Zwald, Greg (UWRF Farm Manager)
- Large capacity chilled centrifuge for blood sample preparation – Baumann, Larry; Kehoe, Sylvia
- Ultracold freezer for long-term storage of blood and tissue samples – Baumann, Larry; Kehoe, Sylvia; Jang, Young Dal
- Fencing project to split milking herd barn from single group to two groups to allow research – Baumann, Larry; Zwald, Greg (UWRF Farm Manager)
- Environmental test chamber – control growing conditions for plants and seedlings – Justen, Veronica
- PCR equipment – Maki, Sonja; Ajayi-Oyetunde, Olutoyosi; Zlesak, David
- Analytical balance for in-house production of standards for equipment calibration – Coleman Wasik, Jill; Dolliver, Holly; Rayne, Natasha; Wilhelm, Kelly
- Large capacity muffle furnace and related equipment – Coleman Wasik, Jill; Woolcock, Patrick; Dolliver, Holly; Rayne, Natasha; Wilhelm, Kelly
- FY2
- Conversion of historical data from UWRF dairy herd to electronic form – Baumann, Larry
- Elemental analyzer for chemical analyses of soil, compost, feed, etc. – Woolcock, Patrick; Rayne, Natasha; Kim, Youngmi; Wilhelm, Kelly; Coleman Wasik, Jill; Dolliver, Holly
- Primarily student labor and travel for collection of dairy beef marketing information – Boetel, Brenda
- Microwave digester for soil, compost, feed, etc. – Coleman Wasik, Jill; Woolcock, Patrick; Dolliver, Holly; Rayne, Natasha; Wilhelm, Kelly
- Renovation of laboratory space: Ag Science building, room 221A – Dolliver, Holly
- FY1
- Staff search for dairy herd research manager – applications due May 1, hiring currently paused until July 1
- Developing four faculty positions:
- Dairy welfare – *PVL has been approved
- Soil and environmental management
- Food science and technology – *PVL pending committee approval
- Agricultural economics and rural sociology
Administrative updates:
- Templates and protocols for budgeting, tracking and reporting
- Discussion across deans and faculty to create synergies, collaboration and open sharing of calls for proposals, priorities and best practices
- Released collaborative graduate student assistantship RFP, discussion about the role of research and teaching faculty at each campus, best practices for hiring Hub faculty
- Communication with stakeholders and trade associations
- Communications strategy, brand and logo development
- Creating agenda, budget and plan for Dairy Summit
COVID-19 response:
- Communication with stakeholders and partners working with citizens, farmers and processors – Extension, associations, agency etc. Offered to provide experts on a variety of topics for any outreach they are doing. Webinars etc. Presentations have been given for PDPW, Extension, UW Alumni Association and others.
- Created an online form on Hub website. If a farmer, cheese maker, small business owner, member of the public, etc. has a question related to the pandemic and its impact on dairy, we encourage folks to submit a question. The requests go directly to the Hub program manager and she routes them to the appropriate people at Madison, Platteville and River Falls. It might sound trivial, sometimes just knowing who to contact can be overwhelming. Replies are sent back via email or we will set up calls or video chats. This is something unique that we felt we could contribute to the robust arsenal of resources. Having a direct line to a foremost expert on diverse dairy topics is not an everyday occurrence, but the Hub wants to make this type of interaction as accessible as possible. We have so many talented people in the Wisconsin System!
- Finally, research initiatives that align to the needs of farmers and dairy processors during the pandemic are being prioritized.