Winter is “meeting season” for the ag community in Wisconsin. The Dairy Innovation Hub team jumped at the chance to hit the road and share project outcomes, in person, from researchers at UW-Madison, UW-Platteville and UW-River Falls with the public.
We started with trade show appearances at the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in December and the Dairy Strong conference, hosted by Dairy Business Association, in January.
On Jan. 18, Dr. Heather White, faculty director for the Dairy Innovation Hub, provided a program overview, progress update and answered questions during the discussion portion of Dairy Day at the Capitol, coordinated by Dairy Business Association. During her presentation, Dr. White shared real-life examples of research funded by the Hub to benefit farmers, dairy processors, and the people of Wisconsin.
That same day, the Hub hosted an informational research poster session on the iconic rotunda of the State Capitol to highlight select projects funded by the initiative at each participating campus. Legislators, staff and the public browsed research posters and engaged with students and faculty affiliated with Hub-funded projects.
At the end of January, Dr. White shared a program overview and progress report at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) board meeting. The creation of the Dairy Innovation Hub was a top recommendation from DATCP’s Dairy Task Force 2.0 in 2018. To that end, research at each participating campus works to align with other top recommendations from the task force.
In early March, the Hub was featured at the annual Showcase event, hosted by the Office of Strategic Consulting at UW-Madison. This event was an opportunity for colleagues from across the UW–Madison campus to come together and share best practices, learn from each other’s successes, and connect. The Hub is a very unique collaboration that is gaining attention in Wisconsin, nationally and even internationally! View our Showcase poster.
The Hub concluded our winter roadshow with a productive trip to the Professional Dairy Producers Business Conference. In addition to a trade show presence, PDPW invited the Hub to display 26 research posters in the Nexus Innovation Lane area. This space was dedicated to inventors, creators and idea-generators sharing their most novel ideas. The Hub fit right in!
For more Hub content:
The Hub news page contains an archive of all Hub articles and press releases, including and overview of all Hub-funded efforts.
The Hub continues to keep our stakeholders informed through regular advisory council meetings and brainstorm sessions. Each campus has a local steering committee who meet regularly to make funding decisions and discuss the future vision for the Hub on their respective campuses. The Hub’s leadership committees and local steering groups ensure that the mission, vision and goals are being fully realized.
Round two of Faculty hiring is in progress. To date, the Hub has funded 14 NEW tenure-track faculty members who are excited to contribute meaningful innovation and training efforts for the State of Wisconsin.
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