ADSA 2022 Student Writings Part 8

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Our eighth writing was done by Savannah Jones. She is an undergraduate student in food and agricultural business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Original Research Competition allows for research sharing

There were seven participants in the ADSA-SAD Original Research Competition.

The first participant, S. Puda, from Michigan State, gave a thought-provoking presentation on the relationship between dairy cows and the human food supply. The study was focused on if cows could increase or maintain their milk yields while being fed a diet of byproducts only. Cows being fed the byproducts produced 1kg less milk, but more milk fat. Overall they converted feed to protein efficiently.

Alexie Holhenshell from University of Missouri, gave a presentation on disbudding in holsteins calves and its effect on the expression of immune genes. She found that the stress of disbudding at a young age has a chemical effect on the way the calves’ immune systems will work later in life.

The third presentation was done by Anna Cappellina from Virginia Tech on the effects of plant maturity on yield and nutritional variables of small grain silage. This study noted that boot stage harvested small grains are of better nutritional quality.

The fourth presentation was done by Jessica Brasier from University of Guelph. She studied cow behavior and its relation to robotic milkers and partuition. She found that there is some positive relation between the cows behaviors and their production in automatic milking systems.

Mikel Shabloski from Penn State University gave a presentation on haptoglobin levels and dry period. The results from her study suggest that management during dry period may affect cow inflammation, and that inflammation during the dry period may be associated to important calving events.

Savannah Jones from the University of Tennessee did a study on the impact of region and year on profitability across the U.S. Her findings were that some regions are more profitable than others due to the rise in input prices and several other factors.

N. Pace from Utah State University gave a talk about age and shape and it’s effect on waste and damage in the slicing process of cheddar. He found that .05mm squares receive the least damage and cause the least waste.