As of the close of registration on Monday the total number of registrants stands at 3,320.  This is a new record for a two society meeting.  With three days to go, the total numbers will continue to climb.  Attendees will have access to 1,550 poster presentations and 867 oral presentations.

Mycobacterial Diseases of Animals (MDA) - Interest Group

There is a growing concern among employers in academia and industry regarding the adequacy of PhD training programs for animal scientists in the U.S. in terms of the number of graduates as well as their preparedness.

At the 2015 JAM, J.R. Knapp of Fox Hollow Consulting, Columbus, Ohio, shared data from the National Center for Education Statistics and U.S. Department of Agriculture Food & Agricultural Education Information System that show the number of PhDs awarded from animal, dairy and poultry science departments has declined by nearly 40% in the past two decades. He said that currently there are approximately 150 PhDs awarded per year in animal science, 80 to 90 of whom are U.S. citizens. While some non-citizens may seek employment and stay in the U.S., he noted that the majority return home.

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 By DEREK NOLAN

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with Colorado State University, has been in the process of analyzing data from a NAHMS study looking at health in pre-weaned dairy calves.

During the Production, Management and Environment session at the 2015 JAM, session representatives explained three different studies that involved 851 calves, from 92 different dairy operations, across 13 states.

The first study examined the morbidity and mortality of pre-weaned dairy calves. Of the calves that were enrolled in the study, 33% experienced one disease. The most common diseases were digestive (52%) and respiratory (30%). These diseases were also the most common diseases that caused death. Of the claves that had clinical signs of illness, 92% received some type of treatment for their illness. A majority of the treatments consisted of providing extra fluids and electrolytes. Group housing led to a higher morbidity rate. Colostrum and the liquid diet also had an effect on the morbidity and mortality rate. Providing whole milk instead of milk replacer led to less morbidity. When excellent colostrum was provided both morbidity and mortality was decreased.

The next study examined how quality of colostrum can affect passive transfer. They categorized quality colostrum as: excellent, > 50 grams per liter of IgGs, medium between 40 and 50 grams per liter IgGs and poor colostrum having less than 40 grams per liter of IgGs. Of the colostrum examined, 68% was considered excellent and only 9% was poor. When examining passive transfer 78% was excellent while only 14% was poor. Many things can affect the levels of IgG in the colostrum and they found that first calf heifers and Jerseys have the highest serum IgG levels. They left the audience with an important reminder that all colostrum being fed to calves needs to be tested.

The final presentation explained how the pre-weaning diet affected growth weights of calves. Three different diets were analyzed; whole milk, a combination of whole milk and milk replacer, and only milk replacer. Most of the calves (38%) were fed whole milk, while 36% were fed milk replacer and remainder fed a combination. Over the course of the study, the average daily gain from birth to weaning was 0.73 kg per day, with the calves fed the combination diet having the highest average.

Derek Nolan is currently a master's student at the University of Kentucky under Dr. Jeffrey Bewley researching milk quality economics.  

 
 By MELISSA CORNETT 

The Ruminant Nutrition in Dairy Calves session at this week's 2015 JAM covered a large range of topics with particular emphasis on calf growth and behavior. Calf performance topics included: colostrum contamination, influence of yeast supplements, different concentrate hay starters for calves on high planes of milk, vitamin D supplementation and the impact of weaning method on performance. The impact of ambient temperature and different concentrate hay starters on lying behavior were also covered.

One interesting aspect of this session was the variety of international studies. For instance, an Irish study investigated the impact of total bacterial count in colostrum on passive transfer in calves. These calves were fed colostrum fresh, pasteurized, or stored from 48-72 hours at either refrigerated or room temperature as one-third of Irish farmers feed pooled colostrum stored at room temperature. This is largely due to nearly all calves being born from January to May. The results were surprising. While total cfu were higher with colostrum stored at higher temperatures, all study treatments achieved passive transfer. Average daily gain was also not affected.

A collaborative study in partnership with Diamond V, and Texas Tech University challenged calves with a minor dose of Salmonella enterica to determine if a yeast additive to milk replacer alone, or also added to starter improved immune function and growth. Calves were fed 6L/d divided into two feedings. There was a tendency for improved ADF and FE by 29 days of age for the calves fed yeast product in milk replacer and starter over control. There was also a tendency for less pathogen shedding days for calves fed yeast sup

The University of Guelph, looked into the impact of feeding traditional starter, high starch TMR silage starter, traditional starter, or either 90%DM mixed hay concentrate starter or a hay starter on growth and lying behavior in 48 calves fed at 20% bodyweight.

On an as fed basis, there was no difference among treatments in intake. However, when adjusted for DM intake, TMR diet calves consumed 1kg/day less. The speaker speculated this was due to high moisture content of this diet. As a result, calves on the TMR diet spent the least amount of time lying, and lower experienced lower ADG. The other treatments were not statistically different.

Cargill Premix and Nutrition conducted a study to quantify the impact of ambient temperature on calf performance. Thermochons attached to tail veins reported calf temperature every ten minutes and lying times were recorded. Calves stood 300 min/d and increased to 320 min/day by 8 weeks. Daily Circadian temperatures reported higher body temperatures at night, than in the morning by about half a degree Celsisus. Deeper bedding retained temperatures in winter.

Recently, more mineral accessible starter, through soft starch corn hybrids are becoming available. Compared to high 24% CP starter ground shelled treatment, the softer starch treatment improved overall trial average daily gain in calves. This was likely due to the more accessible DM mineral content through the softer starch profile.

The impact of supplementing vitamin D to calves fed pasteurized whole milk was investigated. Calves not supplemented vitamin D were deficient. There was no impact of vitamin supplementation on gene expression.

Lastly, weaning was covered for calves fed high planes of nutrition peaking at 9L/day. Calves were either gradually step down weaned by removing a pm feeding over the course of a week, or abruptly weaned at 54 d. Calves step down weaned demonstrated increased straw and starter intake. Average daily gain decreased dramatically compared to step down, but though differences VFA and butyrate were different at day 48, there was no difference post-weaning or on rumen development. However, step down weaned calves gain more efficiently post-weaning than abruptly weaned calves.

Melissa Cornett is a Dairy Sciences MS student specializing in the impact of probiotics and changing daily feeding levels of milk in automated feeding systems. She obtained her BS in Animal Sciences at the University of Kentucky with Dr. Jeffrey Bewley. She defends in December and is looking to begin her career in the Wisconsin dairy industry. She hopes to focus on improving calf nutrition and standards operations of procedures on dairy farms. 

 
 In the debate on what animal agriculture "should" look like, it is important to understand what consumers perceive attributes and buzzwords, such as "local", to mean.

Purdue University researchers Elizabeth Byrd, Nicole Widmar, and Michael Wilcox surveyed consumers to determine their perceptions of and willingness to pay for local pork chops and chicken breasts. They reported their results at the 2015 Joint Annual Meeting in Orlando.

When asked how they defined "local" food, 37% of U.S. consumers described it as having been produced within 10 miles of their home, 21% described it to mean within 20 miles of their home and 17% described it as having been produced within the state. Several demographics were found to be correlated with perceptions of local. For instance, they said, being male was found to be correlated with defining local food as having been produced within 20 miles of home, whereas living in the Northeast was positively correlated with defining local food as produced within 10 miles of home.

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