FY 24 Hub-funded projects by priority area

Stewarding land and water resources:

UW-Madison

  • STHI
    • Manure application recommendations for alfalfa inter-seeded into corn silage – Marta Moura-Kohmann, Department of Plant and Agroecosystems Sciences
    • The use of a modified acrylic fiber for removal of copper and antibiotics from
      manure amended soils – Inna Popova, Department of Soil Science
  • Graduate student assistantships
    • Improving anaerobic digester performance through micro aeration – Neslihan Akdeniz-Onuki, Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Student: Ellie Froelich
    • Pyrolyzing dairy manure solids to recover manure nutrients – Rebecca Larson, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and Joseph Sanford, School of Agriculture. Student: Jane Halloran 
    • Evaluating the effects of manure-based products on silage corn nitrogen uptake, fertilizer nitrogen use efficiency, soil nitrogen transformations, and nitrous oxide emissions – Xia Zhu-Barker, Department of Soil Science. Student: Joshua Mirabella
  • Equipment
    • Increasing research capacity in enteric methane emissions and sustainable dairy farming: acquisition of a GreenFeed unit – Francisco Peñagaricano, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • A greenhouse gas measurement system for dairy agroecosystems – Paul Stoy, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
    • Soil science discrete analyzer for water and soil and plant extract ion analysis – Geoffrey Siemering, Department of Soil Science
    • Cold season hydrology and frozen soils laboratory capacity building – Anita Thompson, Department of Biological Systems Engineering
    • Dairy water quality research station: a campus-wide long-term lysimeter network in Wisconsin – Xia Zhu-Barker, Department of Soil Science

UW-Platteville

  • Equipment
    • Equipment needs for the evaluation of dairy management practices on soil health and water quality – Christopher Baxter, School of Agriculture
    • Evaluation of dairy fiber as an organic addendum to horticultural media used for growing native plants – Michael Compton, School of Agriculture

UW-River Falls

  • Faculty research fellowships
    • Groundwater fluctuations-related nutrient cycling and stream water quality in agricultural headwater areas– Bahareh Hassanpour, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • Optimizing forage cover crop systems for agronomic production and environmental stewardship – Veronica Justen, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • Effect of in-field prairie strips on nutrient cycling and biodiversity in crop production systems: a preliminary study – Natasha Rayne, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • Establishing a baseline greenhouse gas budget and climate resilience target for the Mann Valley Dairy Farm – Susanne Wiesner, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • Efficient manure land application through innovative tillage systems: feasibility and environmental impacts – Bob Zhiwei Zeng, Department of Agricultural Engineering Technology
  • Equipment
    • Developing Capacity for Chromatography Techniques at the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, UW-River Falls – Bahareh Hassanpour, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • Precision row crop planter with GPS capabilities to enhance Mann Valley Farm Research Capacity – Veronica Justen, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • Benchtop Centrifuge – Heather Sumner-Davis, Department of Plant and Earth Science
    • A multipurpose measurement system to assess the environmental sustainability and productivity of dairy farms – Susanne Wiesner, Department of Plant and Earth Science

Growing farm business and community:

UW-Madison

  • STHI
    • Toward net-zero dairy: Designing and operating a novel catalytic reactor for
      valorization of acid whey – Scott Rankin, Department of Food Science
    • Intramammary infusion of tannin-chitosan hydrogels for prevention or treatment
      of bovine mastitis – Christian Krueger, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
  • Graduate student assistantships
    • Gaining value from post-anaerobic digestion dairy manure fibers – Krishnapuram Karthikeyan, Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Student: Brayan Riascos 
    • A systematic review of the economics of nutritional interventions to reduce enteric methane production in dairy cows – Charles Nicholson, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences and Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Student: Matheus Rebouças Pupo
    • Profitability of Automated Milking Systems and labor implications for Wisconsin dairy farmers – Charles Nicholson, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences and Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics; Shaheer Burney, Department of Agricultural Economics, UW–River Falls. Student: Jalyssa Beaudry, collaboratively mentored and funded with UW–River Falls
  • Equipment
    • Expanding calf housing options into underutilized UW animal research facilities – Jessica Cederquist, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • High temperature rapid viscoanalyzer to analyze dairy beverages, cheese, and competing products – Audrey Girard, Department of Food Science
    • A small batch multi-purpose membrane filtration unit to isolate bioactive compounds from milk or dairy streams – Gulustan Ozturk, Department of Food Science
    • Purchase of a no-till drill to enhance dairy conservation cropping system research at Peninsular Agriculture Research Station – Rebecca Wiepz, Peninsular Agriculture Research Station

UW-Platteville

  • Faculty research fellowships
    • Towards Optimized Usage of the Milking Robot using Data Analytics – Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman, Computer Science
    • Evaluating trends in female to male ratios in dairy science and related programs throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest region and the translation into post-secondary employment – Krista Eiseman, School of Agriculture
    • Dairy protein bio composites development using selective laser sintering 3D printing process – John Obielodan, Mechanical Engineering

UW-River Falls

  • Faculty research fellowships
    • Rural economic development in Wisconsin: analysis of intergenerational mobility and community-centered case studies – James White, Department of Agricultural Economics

Ensuring animal health and welfare:

UW-Madison

  • STHI
    • Deciphering ecological interactions in the ruminant gastrointestinal tract
      microbiota that affect methane formation and the efficacy of mitigation strategies – Hilario Mantovani, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • Mooving cows: an innovative tool for diverse audiences to learn dairy cow
      handling practices – Jennifer Van Os, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
  • Graduate student assistantships
    • Capacity of flies to acquire and transmit pathogenic bacteria to dairy cows – Kerri Coon, Department of Bacteriology. Student: Andrew Sommer
    • A novel approach to understand the impact of dry-off on dairy cow welfare in Automatic Milking Systems – Kate Creutzinger, Department of Animal and Food Science, UW-River Falls; Jennifer Van Os, Jimena Laporta, and Joao Dorea, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, UW–Madison; Ryan Pralle, School of Agriculture, UW–Platteville. Student: Liz McGuire, collaboratively mentored and funded with UW–River Falls
    • Beyond immunoglobulin concentrations: Exploring the potential of fresh colostrum on immune development and health in dairy calves – Lautaro Rostoll-Cangiano, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences. Student: Malena Cid de la Paz
  • Equipment
    • o   Calan feeding gates in Marshfield ARS lactating cow barn – Nancy Esser, Marshfield Agricultural Research Station
    • Increasing research capacity in energy partitioning and feed efficiency walk on scales and expansion of electronic intake gate feeders – Luiz Ferraretto, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • Acquisition of an automated platform (OmniLog ID Plus system) for identification and functional characterization of microbial isolates and phenotyping of livestock microbiomes – Hilario Mantovani, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • Multi-barn high-resolution camera system for behavioral monitoring of dairy heifers – Jennifer Van Os, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences

UW-Platteville

  • Faculty research fellowships
    • Exploring high liver triglyceride content heritability and genetic architecture in early lactation Holstein cows – Ryan Pralle, School of Agriculture
    • Enhancing the safety and growth of alfalfa by the utilization of novel non-thermal technology – high voltage atmospheric cold plasma – Zifan Wan, School of Agriculture
  • Equipment
    • Building capacity for dairy nutrition research: equipment to measure in-vitro digestibility and rumen gas production – Peter Lammers, School of Agriculture
    • Testing the efficacy of plant essential oils in the management of Aphanomyces root rot of alfalfa – Muthu Venkateshwaran, School of Agriculture

UW-River Falls

  • Faculty research fellowships
    • Effects of using calf jackets on performance and health of purebred and crossbred dairy calves in different rearing environments – Sylvia Kehoe, Department of Animal and Food Science
  • Equipment
    • Improvement of Video Recording Systems at the Mann Valley Farm Dairy Learning Center – Phase 2 – Kurt Vogel, Department of Animal and Food Sciences

Enriching human health and nutrition:

UW-Madison

  • STHI
    • Demonstrating the value of dairy ingredients in protein and fiber based enriched
      snack foods – Audrey Girard, Department of Food Science
    • The characterization of bovine milk fat lipids in surgical nutrition support – Joseph Pierre, Department of Nutritional Sciences
  • Graduate student assistantships
    • Exploiting the food-grade organism Aspergillus oryzae as a biocontrol agent against Listeria monocytogenes in dairy products and cattle – Tu-Anh Huynh, Department of Food Science. Student: Zepeng Tu
  • Equipment
    • Analysis of amino acids in milk and dairy products will enhance research from a biochemical, nutritional, bioactive and safety perspective – Rodrigo Ibáñez Alfaro, Center for Dairy Research
    • Heavy metal assessment of soil, manure, feed, and dairy products using energydispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) – Alfred Hartemink Department of Soil Science
    • Tracking longitudinal bovine mammary gland development via ultrasound technology – Jimena Laporta, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • Building capacity to perform cow-side measurements of cellular metabolism via the mobile seahorse XF HS mini analyzer – Vanessa Leone, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences
    • Upgrading the shared campus use small animal metabolic phenotyping facility – Joseph Pierre, Department of Nutritional Sciences
    • Acquisition of high parameter flow cytometer to disentangle complex microbehost interactions that drive neonatal development in dairy cows – Lautaro Rostoll Cangiano, Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences

UW-Platteville

  • Equipment
    • Quality assessment of dairy products after cold plasma treatments through texture, color, and microbial analysis – Zifan Wan, School of Agriculture

UW-River Falls

  • No awards in this priority area in FY 2024