USDA releases its poultry inspection modernization rule

Evaluation of management strategies

By Di Liang

Dairy producers are utilizing diverse management strategies in the real world. Presenters in the "Economics of different management practices" session on Wednesday afternoon at the 2014 Joint Annual Meeting American Dairy Science Assn. and American Society of Animal Science discussed various management strategies, their outcomes and related management tools.

Results from University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that dairy farms with higher milk production and lower culling rates would decrease greenhouse gas emissions while increasing profits. This result could encourage dairy producers to mitigate the greenhouse gas emission by improving the herd performance, which also results in higher profit.

Researchers from the Ohio State University and University of Florida looked at transition cow management economics, especially the impact of the human factors. They suggested good training could ensure the hands-on employees were knowledgeable and skilled. The speaker reported that a $1 investment in training could be worth $25 in the future profits.

Two studies focused on health economics. H.A. Delgado from University of McGill compared the life-time cumulative profit for different types of dairy farms in Canada, including tie-stall, free-stall, and robot milking farms. The robot milking system had the highest profit, lowest mastitis cost, and lowest age at first calving. Delgado concluded that management type could change dairy farm profits in the end.

E. Rolling from University of Georgia presented a model to calculate the cost of clinical mastitis in the first 30d in lactation. This total cost was $424 per case, primarily from production loss and culling. This model could help producers review their mastitis control strategies.

Another study by USDA- APHIS compared DHIA and Non-DHIA herds in the U.S. The results showed that dairy farms with DHIA had more cows, higher milk production, lower preweaned death, and used more preventive health and biosecurity recommendations.

Breeding all the cows may not be the most profitable option, S. Shahinfar from University of Wisconsin-Madison presented a model to optimize the breeding strategies. This model was able to identify a subset of eligible cows to get breed.

Dairy producers are adapting more technologies in daily practice than ever. The evaluation of different strategies and the use of decision support tools help  producers better understand their situation and figure out better solutions.

Di Liang is a Ph.D. student at University of Wisconsin-Madison, working on economics and environmental performance of dairy farms. 

ADSA and Related Happenings

JDS Confirmed as the Leading Dairy Journal in the World

Thomson Reuters recently published the 2013 Journal Citation Reports Impact Factors and rankings. I am very pleased to report that the Journal of Dairy Science® (JDS) is unquestionably the leading dairy science journal in the world and ranks very highly as follows:

JDS is ranked second of 51 journals in the Agriculture, Dairy, and Animal Science category for the 2013 Impact Factor (2.550) and is also ranked second by 5-Year Impact Factor (3.080). The JDS is the top-ranked journal by Eigenfactor Score, which removes self-citations, and first in total citations (31,754 cites).

Genetics, Selection, Evolution is the category's top-ranked journal, with an Impact Factor of 3.747 (1,717 total cites; 44 articles published).

In the Food Science and Technology category (using the same Impact Factor), JDS is ranked 24th of 123 journals by Impact Factor and 21st of 123 journals by the 5-Year Impact Factor. The JDS is ranked third by Eigenfactor Score in this category, and third in total citations.

The Journal of Dairy Science published 740 articles in 7,429 (science) pages in 2012 and 783 articles in 8,134 (science) pages in 2013. Thus, with a 9.5% increase in pages published from 2012 to 2013, the Impact Factor decreased by only 0.016 from 2012.

Special thanks are due to Roger Shanks, editor-in-chief; the dedicated and excellent team of section editors and senior editors; the editorial board and reviewers; the FASS editorial and production staff, especially Susan Pollock, managing editor, and Louise Adam, lead technical editor; and-the lifeblood of JDS-the authors.

Al Kertz, ADSA President

USDA Plan Would Capture Biogas From Livestock
 The Obama administration Friday released a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock by capturing the biogas to use as an alternative to fossil fuels.  The strategy, developed by the departments of Agriculture and Energy and EPA, is a follow-up to the administration's methane-reduction plan, issued in March that led to accusations on Capitol Hill that the White House would attempt to regulate livestock emissions.

The report emphasized that the suggested projects were voluntary and that the plan had been requested by the dairy industry.  Although a few dairies have already installed what are known as methane "digesters" to generate electricity from manure, the plan estimates that more than 11,000 additional biogas systems could be installed nationwide to power more than 3 million homes.  Methane emissions could be reduced by the equivalent of 800,000 and 11 million automobiles, the plan says.

The report says 239 livestock biogas systems are in operation, producing enough electricity to power 70,000 homes. Biogas also can be captured from municipal solid waste, wastewater, food waste and food production, the plan says.   

The plan outlines several steps that the administration intends to take to promote installation of the systems, including by expanding federal financial assistance; compiling financial and technical data on the methane digesters; and ensuring that biogas systems are eligible under federal procurement guidelines.

"The emissions intensity of the production of meat and milk in the United States is already much lower today than it was even a few decades ago," the plan says. "Due to improvements in production efficiency, it's amongst the lowest in the world . Enhancing the deployment of cost-effective technology to utilize biogas can increase revenues and reduce emissions, providing another 'win-win' for farmers, communities, and the nation."

The National Milk Producers Federation welcomed the plan. Jim Mulhern, the group's president and CEO, said it would "help stimulate the emerging biogas market in ways that could provide revenue-generating opportunities for dairy farms of all sizes."  He also emphasized that the projects were voluntary and said the plan " validates the proactive and voluntary path the industry is already taking to reduce methane emissions, and provides direction for future actions and opportunities."

After the White House released the methane reduction plan in March, 16 Republican senators, led by John Thune of South Dakota, wrote the USDA, the EPA and the Energy Department raising concerns that the administration was seeking to regulate emissions from livestock operations.

A fact sheet for the roadmap is here . (Source: Philip Brasher, CQ Roll Call) 

ADSA shows support
 ADSA was among 70 U.S. science and engineering communities expressing concerns about current and proposed restrictions on the ability of federal and contractor scientists and engineers to participate in scientific and technical conferences to leaders of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs. A copy of the letter is available on the ADSA Science Policy area of our website.

Help the animal and dairy science community and attend JAM 2015 for free, too!

Referrals are the most tried-and-true way businesses grow, and the same is true for the Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS). Do you know a colleague working with an animal science group that is in need of high-quality, cost-effective support services? Help them out by referring them to Jamie Ritter, FASS Executive Director at jamier@assochq.org.

Help them benefit from the shared resource concept and the 264 years of collective experience the FASS staff have in working with non-profit animal science organizations. If your referral becomes a FASS customer prior to July 1, 2015, ADSA will comp your registration to the 2015 JAM. It's win-win-win. For more information about services offered by FASS, click here.  ADSA is a founding member of FASS.

ADSA® on Linked In tops 1,000

Our ADSA Linked In group reached a new milestone this week.  We now have 1,004 members from around the world, are you one of them? It's a great place to network with other dairy professionals from around the world.  Check it out here.