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Special Report - ADSA Annual Meeting Coverage |
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Welcome to the ADSA Annual Meeting Dair-e-news
The ADSA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting is taking place this week in homes and offices around the world. It is off to a great start. Preliminary figures show a total of just under1,300 people from 40 countries registered for the meeting. This includes 397 ADSA Graduate Student members, 77 undergraduate and 52 post-Doctorate students. While COVID-19 has caused the format to change again this year, the purpose is the same, to present the premier global dairy science meeting in the world! This year’s meeting features over 970 abstracts to be presented in oral and poster sessions. Need to miss a live event? Don't worry – one of the advantages of a virtual meeting is that most live events will be recorded and available for on-demand viewing during and after the meeting. If you are registered, you have unlimited access to the recordings for three months following the meeting…another great reason to register. Panel discussions with live Q&A, live roundtable discussions available in several time zones, early and late hallway talks, an exhibit hall, additional networking opportunities, and student competitions are again available. As always, we will facilitate focused, meaningful, and interesting discussions about the latest dairy science and its applications. It is considered the most comprehensive dairy science meeting in the world and is where the latest ideas and findings in the industry are being discussed.
We are pleased to again be sending "Special Editions" of this newsletter to you from the virtual meeting. An outstanding group of graduate and undergraduate students is working with us to provide daily coverage of scientific sessions and other activities that are taking place throughout the meeting. I expect that from their summaries you are likely to find some additional presentations that you will want to view at your convenience.
One of today’s special events, in addition to the scientific sessions will be the Annual Awards ceremony. We will be recognizing members for their outstanding work. The Student Affiliates will also hold their awards program.
A reminder: Next year's annual meeting will take place June 19-22, 2022 in Kansas City, MO. Start making your plans now to attend.
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ADSA Annual Meeting Coverage |
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What’s next on the list: Plant- and Dairy-based protein market?
By Sonali Raghunath
The symposium on Milk proteins and enzymes: Opportunities to Create New Products with Mixed Dairy and Plant Proteins was moderated and hosted by Hadi Eshpari, Tillamook County Creamery Association and co-hosted by D.J. McMahon. The symposium consisted of four sessions based on sensory perception, fermentation and hybrid processing of plant and dairy products. The session led to a discussion to understand the growing trends in the plant and dairy protein market and how the dairy industry can have a positive impact on adapting to the trends.
Here are some highlights and key takeaway points summarized from Mary Anne Drake, Professor from North Carolina State University's presentation on “Sensory Properties of plant and dairy foods: Opportunities” during the Milk proteins and Enzymes symposium. The presentation was based on whether there are still opportunities for innovations in the plant and dairy hybrid. Before the pandemic, the key attributes looked upon by consumers were flavor, amount of protein and type of sweeteners used. After the pandemic, it has shifted into flavor, health and price of the protein products in the market. The top four highly rated claims discussed from the study were good sources of protein, tastes great, healthy, rich in vitamins and minerals.
On a theoretical or conceptual basis, consumers were willing to try new products in the market, but in reality, when a blind testing study was conducted with participants the study had noted that dairy protein products do have a different flavor profile in comparison to plant-based protein products in the market. Between then and now, consumers are looking for more protein-based products and are willing to try newer products. Irrespective of any claims, health and sustainability of products, FLAVOR STILL RULES the product market and what invests the consumers in various products. Hybrid products already do exist in the market like RTD, milk beverages and protein bars having a synergy however they are not called out on the label. The session concluded that there are more opportunities in today’s market and areas of innovation for dairy & plant proteins.
Sonali Raghunath is a 2nd year PhD Candidate in Food Science at the University of Minnesota under Dr.Tonya Schoenfuss and Dr. Kumar Mallikarjunan. She earned her M.S. in Food Science from the University of Minnesota and her B.Tech in Food Technology from Anna University, India. Her current research explores the relationship between non-thermal processing methods and milk protein concentrate.
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Adipose tissue in transition dairy cows as an integrator of metabolic and inflammatory cues in health and disease
By Leoni F. Martins
Recent advances in the comprehension of the association between the metabolism and inflammatory state of cows have fomented scientists around the world to investigate the role of body tissues, nutrition and management on performance and health of dairy cows. Therefore, the first Animal Health symposia presented at the 2021 ADSA annual meeting brought into discussion the role of adipose tissue in transition dairy cows as an integrator of metabolic and inflammatory cues in health and disease. Presented by worldwide specialists, the symposia enlightened attendees with the most current knowledge regarding the energy and lipid physiology of dairy cows.
Insulin resistance was the first topic depicted during the event. The presenter went through an overview of hormone function, methods to quantify, and limitations of the techniques used for evaluation. Thereafter, data were presented to demonstrated how body condition score is related to insulin resistance and how glucose metabolism plays an important role in the adaptation of transition dairy cows. Over conditioned animals have larger adipocytes, with greater basal and stimulated lipolytic activity that differs in extension depending on the adipose tissue depot (omental vs. subcutaneous). As a result of accumulated fat, cows experience a higher abundance of pro-inflammatory cytokines which are an indicator for infiltration of macrophages. Deepen into the endocrinology of the fatty acids, the next presenter demonstrated that the involvement of adipose tissue in metabolism is not limited to energy storage. The fat mobilization modulates the steroid system that is related to the regulation of different physiological processes such as reproduction and immunology, and it seems to have greater importance for cows with a higher body condition score.
There are many metabolic and inflammatory markers that can be explored in order to better understand the adaption of cows during the transition period. Proteomics is one of the promising tools that is revealing numerous proteins related to the inflammatory pathways and its integration with adipose tissue. Although proteomics is a snapshot of a specific time and tissue, it allows the researchers to track and describe markers, therefore, improving their understanding of inflammation and novel proteins related to the adaptation of periparturient cows. It is well known that a certain degree of lipid mobilization is necessary and will help cows supporting milk production during the onset of lactation when they are on a negative energy balance status. However, cows with intense and protracted lipolysis during the first month of lactation experience increased oxidative stress and, consequently, activation of inflammatory responses.
Therefore, strategies that improve the antioxidant defenses and the function of the adipose tissue such as the use of fatty acid supplementation in the diet are promising and must be the focus of future research. Translating the recent findings of the research into the daily herd management operations is fundamental for the improvement of performance and health of dairy cows. Thus, maximizing dry matter intake early postpartum, providing cow comfort and a feeding program that aims to minimize changes in fat deposition pre- and excessive mobilization post-partum are still key factors to consider. More recently, the use of ultrasound to identify backfat thickness (BFT) seems to be a great opportunity to improve the evaluation of the transition program on farms once experiments have demonstrated increased BFT in cows fed with high energy diets during the prepartum period.
Leoni F. Martins is from Brazil, and he is a research assistant at Penn State University under the mentorship of Dr. Hristov. He has a strong background in ruminant nutrition, and he is currently working on how precision feeding affects performance and enteric gases emissions of dairy cows.
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Reducing Food Loss and Waste Symposium
By Caitlin Zaring
Monday's evening symposium Dairy Foods: Reducing Food Loss and Waste featured four presentations geared toward food loss and waste specifically within the dairy industry and possible solutions for this growing problem and recent hot topic. Presenters included Dr. Jean C. Buzby the USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison, Dr. Nicole Martin the Associate Director of the Milk Quality Improvement Program out of Cornell University, Gretchen Feldpausch a Registered Dietician and Ph.D. student at Iowa State University, and Dr. Juan Guzman the CEO of Capro-X.
Dr. Jean C. Buzby kicked off the symposium by discussing food loss and waste's causes, spoilage, and what counties are doing to fight this on a global scale. First, she differentiated food loss as the process of decreasing the quantity or quality of food from the farm up to the retailer or the suppliers in the food chain from food waste from the retail store to the consumer. By decreasing these food losses and wastes many problems can be solved, including reservation and preservation of fresh water, land, labor, energy, and money for producers, processors, and consumers. Food losses may be due to harvesting, processing, or transportation problems, while food waste may be from over-ordering or over-purchasing products and discarding blemished consumables. Many countries, including the United States, took a pledge in 2015 to reduce food waste by 50% by the year 2030. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan, and the Netherlands have all had successes to some degree in regards to meeting this goal. For example, the United Kingdom has exceeded its 50% reduction goal, specifically in consumer waste, partially due to its consumer education campaigns.
The second speaker, Dr. Nicole Martin, spoke of contaminants in fluid milk, cheese, and yogurt. She discussed how to control spoilage from these contaminants that can lead to food loss and, in this case, food waste. These bacterial and fungal contaminants can have varying effects, including but not limited to curdling, discoloration, excess gaseous production, and flavor defects. Dr. Martin suggested four strategies and tools to help reduce these contaminants that lead to dairy product spoilage and waste: on-farm interventions, processing technologies and biocontrols, molecular microbiological tools, and mathematical modeling. On-farm interventions such as good cow management and milking practices can reduce gram-positive spore-forming bacteria that will spoil fluid milk and cheese. Processing technologies and biocontrols can reduce bacteria and fungi by removing contaminants by mechanical processes, optimizing HTST temperatures to control growth, and control with bioprotective cultures. Molecular microbiological tools can allow producers and processors to track and manage contaminant growth through genetic or genomic sequencing of the bacteria and fungi. The final approach is mathematical modeling which runs "what if" scenarios for other methods such as various processing technologies to control bacteria or fungal load.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Christina Campbell, Gretchen Feldpausch took the approach of looking at the consumer's role in dairy food waste. Dairy products are third to vegetables and fruit in consumer food waste. Putting food waste into perspective, the United States has 27 million food-insecure people and 13 million with hunger. The food loss and waste represent enough food to feed nearly 2 billion people a 2100 kcal/day diet. Mrs. Feldpausch did not suggest that eliminating food waste was a solution to food insecurity and hunger but could significantly improve the situation. A few causes, especially in the United States, were food abundance, low prices, consumer perceptions and expectations, limited knowledge, and labeling confusion, mainly seen in the best buy date and use by date. Her proposed solutions involved educating consumers of every step of the food chain from the farm and the store to the consumers' homes. Additionally, she suggested reconsidering purchasing with promotions like BOGO and bulk packaging.
The final presenter was Dr. Juan Guzman with Capro-X discussing his business of upcycling dairy byproducts into bio-oils for resale. His company seeks to find a more sustainable solution to the excess production of whey, specifically acid whey from Greek yogurt production. A gallon of milk being used for Greek yogurt yields into only 25% yogurt; the other 75% is acid whey used as animal feed, fertilizer, or shipped to treatment plants for anaerobic digestion. Each of these processes has its positives and negatives. His company plans to install the fermenters on-farm for no monetary investment. The farmer gets the fresh water produced from the fermentative process and his company bottles and sells the bio-oils resulting from the whey's breakdown. The process is a continuous two-step open fermentation process using natural microbes in separate thermophilic and mesophilic tanks. These bio-oils can replace fragrances, flavorings, animal and human feed additives, can be used in biodiesels and aviation fuels, and most notable, palm oil. His business shows promising results, and a third-party study suggests that using only 10% of New York's acid whey per year Capro-X could save 250,000 gallons of fuel and decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 115,000 tons rather than transporting and treating that 10% with anaerobic digestion.
This symposium educated about and offered many possible solutions to help decrease food loss and food waste by 2030 to meet the 50% reduction pledge. One-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, costing the economy approximately $936 billion each year. Of this, 31% is attributed to waste at the retail and consumer levels, including around 17 billion pounds of fluid milk alone. Globally, consumers waste roughly 1 pound of food per person per day. In the United States, as of 2018, approximately 25% of food and beverage bought was wasted. These speakers drove home the message that it is crucial to manage and educate all aspects of the food chain from the farm to the consumer to ensure that food loss and waste sees a downward trend.
Caitlin Zaring is a Master's student in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Tennessee under Dr. Elizabeth Eckelkamp. She holds a B.S. in Animal Science from the same institution and an A.S. in Biology from her local community college. Her survey-based research describes the state of value-added dairy enterprises and consumer preferences for value-added dairy products in Tennessee.
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Dairy Production Oral Presentation Competition: Hormones, enrichment, methane and more
By Loren Foley
Five undergraduate dairy science students participated virtually in the 2021 ADSA Dairy Production Oral Presentation Competition. One of the presentations discussed the role of hormones in dairy production. Alyssa Rauton from the University of Georgia discussed the concentration of anti-Müllerian (AMH) hormone in dairy heifers and its association with reproductive merit and overall herd health. Her presentation suggested that AMH has promising potential as a more reliable diagnostic tool. The long-term reproductive performance and productive life of a dairy heifer is extremely important before her first lactation.
In an environmental dairy production presentation, Sarah Thomas from Virginia Tech Blacksburg discussed enrichment to promote health in preweaned calves. Many enrichment items, such as brushes and companionship, were able to promote positive behavioral changes. Access to brushes, along with social companionship from other calves, contributed to favorable impacts on behavior without impeding overall growth and health.
Other students presented on diet changes in dairy production. Kelly Forbes from Pennsylvania State University discussed feeding asparagopsis taxiformis to inhibit methane production. She concluded that although this method may be effective in the future, there are regulatory concerns with feeding this strain of seaweed to livestock animals and it may be difficult to maintain a sustainable supply of seaweed. In another presentation, Cessna Langford from the University of Kentucky spoke about acidosis in dairy calves. Her presentation showed that acidosis has become a serious factor that can be difficult to manage through feeding practices alone. Additional research is necessary to understand the effects of probiotics in regard to acidosis.
On the financial side, Loren Foley from the University of Tennessee highlighted the milk price trends of the Federal Milk Marketing Order. Her research suggested that the FMMO has become a major influential aspect of dairy marketing that should reflect the concerns of producers, processors, and consumers. However, the volatility of production and retail markets have led to constant evolution, and the accompanying regulatory measures could be misconstrued by individual perceptions of their function.
The SAD-ADSA awards ceremony for these presentations will be held in the evening on Tuesday, July 13th. The results and placing will be announced in congratulations to this year’s future winners and all who participated!
Loren Foley is a junior pursuing an Animal Science degree at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
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New look into lactation biology
By Arup Ratan Sen
This year’s Lactation Biology symposium at American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting focused on modulating and understanding physiological processes involved in milk production.
Researchers from French National Institute of Agriculture proposed a new noninvasive approach to assess negative energy balance in dairy cattle during early lactation. Essentially all dairy suffer from a period of negative energy balance during early lactation, which could potentially impact animal health and milk production. This study assessed the changes in different biomarkers in milk due to feed restriction and suggested that an increase in milk Glucose-6-phosphate concentration could indicate negative energy balance in the dairy cow.
Retention of functional mammary epithelial cells is important to increase lactation persistency. Researchers from Virginia Tech suggested that increased extrusion of viable mammary epithelial cells from the udder could be related to the reduced milk production. Their study results showed a higher number of viable mammary epithelial cells in the multiparous cows compared to primiparous cows. Another study by researchers from the University of Sherbrooke, Canada suggested that incomplete milking could negatively affect the mammary gland’s responsiveness to prolactin, reducing milk production. Their study showed a reduction in milk production by 40% due to incomplete milking when compared to the milk production by complete milking.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and US Dairy Forage Research Center highlighted the impact of different management during lactation on mammary gland growth and development. Their studies indicated that mammary gland growth and development in dairy calves could be negatively affected by in-utero heat stress, which could impact milk synthesis in later life. Their studies also suggested that mammary gland gene expression was associated with the differences in diet.
Arup Ratan Sen is from Bangladesh. He is currently an MS student at the University of Tennessee under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Eckelkamp, focusing on producers’ perception farm management that impacts their permanency in the dairy industry.
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Synergy between dairy and plant proteins: The future of food?
By Rahul Venkatram
With an increasing consumer trend towards the consumption of sustainable food resources and the complementary increase in vegan demands, plant proteins have been an epicenter for research and development over the past few years. With the advent of technology, plant-based meats and milks have found their way to a number of HoReCa (hotels, restaurants and catering industries) establishments around the globe. With fluid cow’s milk sales declining and an increasing demand for these plant-based alternatives, we are at a very critical conjecture of striking a balance between these two nutritionally wholesome and essential commodities.
The Milk Protein and Enzymes symposium started off with Mr. Hadi Eshpari, the host welcoming the attendees to ADSA 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting and briefly introduced himself along with the co-host Prof. Donald McMahon from Utah State University.
The very first speaker was Dr. MaryAnne Drake from North Carolina State University who would be talking about sensory properties of plant proteins in comparison with dairy proteins and opportunities for synergy. Dairy food trends were classified into two categories: first, conscious consumption with claims on sustainability like pasture-fed or glass bottles, and the second, alternative nutrition which focuses on higher proteins. The past few years have seen an increase in the consumption of plant-based alternatives owing to their claim of being a more sustainable alternative to dairy. The future of dairy now relies on positioning (adapting to the changing marketplace) and messaging (communicating to keep consumers receptive). Plant and dairy protein synergies have existed for years together in protein bars where soy and whey proteins have been traditionally used, the same for many ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages available in the marketplace. Opportunities for synergies rely on consumer requirements which have been leaning towards a higher protein content in their diet – but is the source of protein changing? A study conducted by her group in 2019 demonstrates that the three attributes that consumers prioritize the most are the flavor, type of proteins and the type of sweetener for bars and RTD beverages. Whey and milk proteins were conceptually preferred, whereas soy protein and caseins not being given a high priority. Another aspect that was important was for an ‘all-natural’ protein, with 20-29g of protein/serving with a natural sweetener. Plant protein and vegan were not classified as very important attributes or selection criterion. Another study in 2020 demonstrated flavor, contribution to health and pricing to be important with a sudden trend in consumer demand for sustainability. Consumers were mostly interested in price and variety as seen in a survey conducted for protein powders and were further divided into three clusters. Cluster 1 consumers displayed a rising trend in consumption of plant-based food, Cluster 2 consumers were flexible to trying out a new product whereas Cluster 3 consumers relied on word-of-mouth recommendations. Consumers demanded a good and complete source of protein, is a concern since it can only be assessed by qualitative consumers. Demographics also has an influence of choice of protein, with Gen X consumers being influenced by claims such as complete proteins, all-natural and non-GMO, whereas Gen Z consumers are more concerned about sustainability. Plant proteins are considered to be superior to dairy proteins in sustainability, health, ethics and digestibility whereas the latter precedes in terms of taste and satiety.
Dr. Milena Corredig from Aarhus University then presented an exciting front on processing dairy proteins with plant proteins. Since the latter is often correlated to sustainability, she initiated her talk with the FAO definition of a sustainable diet – one with low environmental impacts, accessible, protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, nutritionally adequate and economical, to state a few. With the Danish government introducing sustainability and plant-based products as a part of dietary guidelines along with consumption of 100g of cooked legumes every day – this brings about a huge transgression, shifting 50% of the traditional protein intake to plant protein alternatives. Affordability, safety and personalization need to be considered while changing consumption habits. Legumes, owing to their low acreage requirements and ability to capture nitrogen, are one of the biggest drivers of sustainability. Blending ingredients has been practiced for decades and hence providing a series of products from an alternative ingredient should not be an arduous task! With most individuals having an underlying affinity for dairy, it can be used as a platform for functionality, taste and nutritional adequacy. Strengths, opportunities and challenges need to be thoroughly examined to present opportunities to innovate. Varietal differences for legumes need to be addressed with respect to growth conditions, application areas and nutrient composition and can often present a challenge for incorporation in a commercial product. Extraction of plant-proteins can be extensive and uneconomical owing to their complex matrices and extraction methods determine product characteristics. Dry milling and wet milling methods affect overall composition, functionality and end application of these protein isolates, concentrates and flours. As a concluding note, Dr. Corredig discussed the top-down and bottom-up approaches for formulating a product with an optimal blend of protein with nutritional and technological functionality.
After an informative talk on processing, Mai Nygaard, Director of Fermentation (plant-based) at Chr Hansen gave an enriching talk on modulating taste and texture in plant-based yogurts or ‘vegurts.’ Grains (oat, quinoa, millet), nuts (coconut, almonds) and legumes (soy, pea and lupine) are gaining popularity for their applications in numerous plant-based alternatives. Coconut and soy, owing to their neural taste have found wide acceptability among the masses. Fermentation cultures play a central role in delivering taste, texture, health along with sustainability and quality of products. Reducing of food waste and shelf-life extensibility have become important selection criterions. Protein network in milk in presence of lactic acid as a result of fermentation are responsible for the characteristic texture, creaminess, viscosity of yogurt. Flavor is attributed to by-products of fermentation. Plant-based alternatives have a number of unknown factors altering end product characteristics and hence posing a new hurdle. Factors affecting quality of the cultured plant products depend on plant source, type and level of fat, presence of fermentable carbohydrates, stabilizer and the quality of water. Cultures are similar to that of dairy products but there is scope to tap into a set of unexplored species compatible with these alternatives. Pre-processing, anti-nutrients and presence of fermentable solids (often externally added) are critical parameters to check in maintaining homogeneity in the end product. Flavors can be adapted from dairy which includes aldehyde, diacetyl and acetaldehyde which may or may not show up in sensory assessments. Off-flavors like pea-notes, bitterness need to be addressed by selection of strains that can modify these undesirable flavors. Exopolysaccharides generated during fermentation can strongly contribute towards creaminess and yield strength of the gel thus obtained. She then walked us through the product portfolio at Chr Hansen keeping texture and intensity as key parameters with supporting data for a coconut and pea protein blend.
The final speaker for the day was Dr. Simon Loveday from AgResearch who discussed a very important aspect – if dairy factories could adapt to this trend of plant proteins. Since dairy production is seasonal, there have been concerns over the idleness during off-seasonal periods and increasing demand for plant-based products. Can these factories be used to process plant proteins during these idle times? The first following question was about the selection of the protein source– oilseeds, legumes or cereals? Pre-processing conditions are variable with the inherent protein chemistry of each raw material. He discussed the manufacture of soybean proteins in detail with emphasis on each stage including pre-cleaning, dehulling, sieving, aspiration, cleaning, sorting, scouring and flaking – wonder if all of these steps can be achieved in a dairy factory? Oil separation is the very next step with solvent extraction using hexane. Extraction hardware to deodorize this oil is problematic and often economically expensive for a dairy factory. This defatted mill is treated with acid and water, then treated with alkaline solution with pH control and subsequent protein extraction steps and purification using isoelectric precipitation and spray drying. Comparing to an acid casein extraction process, some of these hardware’s could be incorporated for extracting plant-proteins with a number of accessories. He then arrives at a conclusion that protein concentration by isoelectric precipitation and ultrafiltration, drying and packaging could be achieved in a dairy factory, but pre-processing, conditioning, defatting, oil-refining and extraction had almost little or no feasibility. An alternate manufacturing process along with solubility of proteins, hemp proteins and future scopes were then discussed. Since Dr. Loveday could not join us live for the symposia, he was kind enough to share his contact information to address any questions from the audience.
The session ended with a Q&A session from the attendees who addressed concerns of allergenicity, peptides formed during the digestion, government recommendations on this dietary push, and the behavior of bacterial consortia in a plant-based media compared to the traditional dairy substrates.
Rahul Venkatram is a first-year master’s student in the Department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University advised by Dr. Rafael Jimenez-Flores. We currently work on exploring novel processes to reduce the antigenicity of dairy proteins and enhance the versatility of dairy products.
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Original Research Oral Competition focusing on milk production
By Abby McCalmon
Seven undergraduate students embraced the change from an in-person meeting to a virtual one to compete in the 2021 ADSA Original Research Oral Competition. Each presentation was unique with a common theme of milk production. Greg DeMers from The Pennsylvania State University presentation presented the impact of once-daily milking on production and udder firmness. His results suggested that once-daily milking reduced milk production and increased udder firmness in high-producing herds compared to twice-daily milking. Clayton McWilliams from the University of Guelph in Canada posed the question ‘Is greater milk production associated with cows who have a greater probability of ruminating while lying down?’ His results suggested that encouraging lying down while ruminating has benefits on dairy cow productivity.
In addition to milk production, research was presented on enhancing post-weaning prepubertal mammary growth through applications of estrogen by Isabel Leonard from Virginia Tech. The successful research showed that the implants did in fact work. Sarah Johnson from the University of Georgia presented her project on evaluating the impact of bacterial load and IgG concentration in colostrum on passive transfer in dairy calves. This showed that there was no correlation between colostrum BRIX values and passive transfer rates. However, the mean %BRIX for colostrum was 26.3% and 22.1% for fresh and frozen. Maia Machiela from Michigan State University presented her research on the effect of feeding rumen-protected methionine and lysine (ML) with or without an animal-derived source of rumen-undegradable protein (MLO) on the performance of mid-lactation cows. It highlighted both ML and MLO increase the yields of milk fat protein.
Other presenters included Rhiannon Hall from the University of Kentucky on how personality affects dairy heifer response to music genres. Heifers were described as “exploratory” and “fearful” depending on how close they would come to the music source or how much they would explore a new pen. Abby McCalmon from the University of Tennessee presented her research on the three regions of Tennessee and how dairy operations differ between them. Her research showed that East Tennessee held the most dairy operations with cattle numbers and total workers.
An awards ceremony will be held Tuesday evening on July 13th where the placings will be given. Congratulations to this year’s future winners and all who participated!
Abby McCalmon is a recent animal science graduate of the University of Tennessee where she will continue her education under the guidance of Dr. Elizabeth Eckelkamp to get her master’s in animal science with a concentration in dairy science.
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Southern Branch Symposium: A focus on managing heat stress
By Katelyn Goldsmith
During the ADSA Southern Branch Symposium: Managing Heat Stress in a Warmer Planet, attendees learned about and discussed aspects of heat stress from the physiological to management level. Dr. Yates began by exploring potential products to target system inflammation to improve chronic heat stress outcomes. Dr. Collier guided attendees through a deep dive on bovine sweat glands and their importance in cattle cooling. To improve heat stress mitigation for pasture cattle, Dr. Stone shared her work with “The Mississippi Mister” and machine learning. Sharing his research on antioxidant supplementation, Dr. Dunshea explored nutritional approaches to heat stress mitigation. To wrap up, Dr. Laporta explored how heat stress in utero can have effects in calfhood.
Dr. Yates began the symposium by summarizing how heat stress decreases animal health, well-being and productivity. These negative outcomes are typically associated with decreased feed intake during heat stress but Dr. Yates highlighted the importance of systemic inflammation. Through the research shared, he explored potential products to target systemic inflammation to improve chronic heat stress outcomes such as fish oil. A key cooling mechanism for cows is through sweat. Dr. Collier elaborated on the limited sweating ability cows have and potential pathways to improve it. After an extensive overview of cattle sweat glands and their function, Dr. Collier stressed the importance of identifying factors to regulate sweating rate. Dr. Stone focused on how to improve heat stress mitigation for cattle in pastures. Using cattle behavior as a guide, her group created and have researched a unique sprinkler system called ‘The Mississippi Mister”. Additionally, she elaborated on her work to use machine learning techniques to identify heat stress and its potential as a tool for producers. In his discussion, Dr. Dunshea focused on supplementation of antioxidants for heat stressed cattle. Through the research shared, Dr. Dunshea showed the benefit antioxidant supplementation can have on cow performance. He also touched on the consideration of slowly fermentable grains in diets and investigated genetic variability in response to heat stress. The final presenter, Dr. Laporta, challenged us to consider how heat stress affects not only the cow but also the in-utero calf. Dr. Laporta shared research following calves born either in a cool or heat stress situation and the impact on skin glands, hair length, and thermal indices.
Katelyn Goldsmith: I am a Master’s student at Michigan State University under the mentorship of Dr. Mike VandeHaar. My research focuses on the effect of endomicrobial product supplementation on performance on lactating dairy cattle.
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Growth and Development/Midwest Branch Joint Symposium: Feeding and managing the preruminant calf
By Maria Elisa Montes
The sequence of presentations was just great! Just like in a calf’s life, it started with colostrum, followed by some insights in rumen development, and finalized with rearing strategies. It basically covered key points needed to provide calves with a good kick start for a productive life.
Nutritional regulation of growth and metabolic development in calves
Colostrum and milk Dr. Steele introduced the idea of feeding colostrum for an extended period of time. Although IgG’s are the spotlight among the bioactive components of colostrum, oligosaccharides and fatty acids deserve some attention as well. Oligosaccharides which are abundant in both colostrum and transition milk play an important role in gut health. These biomolecules not only promote the growth of beneficial bacteria, but also fight against pathogens. Although there is some variability in the amount of fat in colostrum and milk, what is really interesting is the variation in fatty acid profile through time. Dr. Steele highlighted how Butyric acid is low in colostrum. And as he said, the exciting reason for this is that Butyrate would stimulate enterocytes and decrease IgG absorption. He followed with a comparison of the different milk feeding programs, restricted, enhanced and even ad libitum. Finally, he addressed milk replacers’ composition. One of the presented studies evaluated high fat and high lactose formulations and the other included high protein as well. A point worth remarking is the fact that the effect of different formulations was not the same for feeding strategies. All in all the presenter made strong emphasis on the need for calf nutrition studies to follow animals in time and look at the long-term effects.
Low rumen pH in calves: Problem or opportunity?
To address the question in the title Dr. Laarman divided his talk into three sections. He started with an overview of rumen development and the physiological principle behind it. Volatile fatty acids (mainly butyrate) produced in solid feed fermentation, are the stimulators of papillae development. He emphasized on the VFA transport pathways in the enterocyte. Transporters are part of cell pH regulation, in fact the enterocyte needs a pH of 7.4. Among these pathways passive diffusion, which is unregulated, deserves special attention. In the second section, the researcher explained how rumen pH in calves has been monitored under the traditional thought that if rumen pH becomes too low due to fermentation rumen pH it could result in decreased stater intake. However, Dr. Laarman later presented some results that contradict that idea. When presenting ruminal pH by age group reported by different studies, he remarked that all these ranges fall below the threshold for subacute ruminal acidosis in cows! In addition,
ruminal pH tends to be more stable in adult cows. Having shown that rumen pH in calves has a completely different behavior. For the third part, Dr. Laarman presented the studies he has performed to address how rumen pH changes on time as well as its impact on growth. A very strong point he made was that VFA pKA is 4.8, this means lower pH results in more protonated VFA, which leads him back to passive diffusion. Once in the cell, the VFA is dissociated, maintaining the diffusion gradient. Adaptations
in the membrane transporters were also found but he mentions they still need a deeper understanding. In conclusion, Dr. Laarman suggested a new model. In this model low pH is actually common and does not affect performance, It is indeed a factor involved in rumen development. This model also suggests physiological function not to be associated with morphology, of course, he says more research is needed
and they are going in that direction.
Preweaned calf rearing options for dairy producers
Dr. Heins started his presentation by listing the key aspects for raising healthy dairy calves with cleanliness at the top of the list. Attention to details, housing, comfort, and feeding strategy were also mentioned as important factors for growth success. Individual housing has advantages when it comes to spread of disease, and feed control. Therefore it is still the preferred method in industry for raising calves. However, aspects such as maternal care, socialization and reduced space are a concern, especially among consumers. Moreover, group housing has gained interest in research due to the fact that cows are social animals. It also offers advantages at the management and welfare level including reduced labor, possible automation as well as reduced stress. The milk feeding method becomes complicated in group settings, sometimes compromising control and cleanliness. Feeding level is another aspect that deserves attention when it comes to housing. According to Dr. Heins, ad libitum feeding was a common question among producers. To address this inquiry they conducted a study using an automated feeding system (Holm & Laue HL 100). In this study, they looked at calves fed ad libitum vs calves fed 8 liters per day through 56 days. Not only did they find a wide range of variability in intake levels when calves were fed ad libitum, but they also found higher average daily gains associated with higher intakes. Following
their results, Dr. Heins presented another study, this one regarding the housing system.
The pilot study compared calves individually fed, calves fed in groups, and calves fed by their mother. The results showed calves fed by their mother had higher weights at weaning compared to the other two treatment groups. Dr. Heins pointed out that calves fed ad libitum in an autofeeder system had similar growth rates to calves fed ad libitum by their dam. Finally, Dr. Heins presented a larger study they were conducting which includes more combinations of settings and feeding strategies. The researcher mentioned they were using sensors, looking at many variables and aspects of growth for this larger study. He wrapped up by mentioning the importance of growing healthy fast-growing calves.
Maria is a Master’s student at Purdue University in Dr. Jacquelyn Boerman’s lab. She is interested in precision dairy technologies and how we can use these data to learn about animal behavior and apply it to better management practices and welfare.
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