USDA announces $3M for critical ag research grants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced nearly $3 million in grants to address critical issues affecting agriculturally-important plants and animals. The science developed from these grants will provide timely assistance and have an immediate impact for the agriculture community.

The awards were made under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative's (AFRI) Critical Agricultural Research and Extension (CARE) program, and addresses priority areas of the 2014 Farm Bill.

"It is essential to promote partnerships between researchers, extension experts, and producers to ensure the success of American agriculture," said Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA director. "The CARE program is centered on the swift identification of problems, creation of solutions, and prevention of interruptions or issues that impact farmers' ability to provide a safe and abundant food supply for our nation."

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Court halts EPA's water rule

A federal court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to stop enforcement nationwide of the waters of the United States rule. The Sixth Circuit Court ordered that the EPA cannot go forward with the rule until courts have had an opportunity to understand it effects on stakeholders, including farmers and ranchers.

The challenge was brought by the attorneys general for 18 states who filed lawsuits against the EPA and was combined into one lawsuit. 

A three judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Judicial Circuit voted 2-1 to stay implementation over concern that burden to state and federal government, as well as private parties and the public in general, from the implementation of the WOTUS rule outweighed any harm to the agencies in keeping the status quo.

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USDA says sustainability won't be in dietary guidelines

The Human and Health Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently are working together to develop the eighth edition of the Dietary Guidelines, which is scheduled to be released by the end of this calendar year. The agencies provided an update on what will and would not be included in the latest round of recommendations to Congressional members.

Earlier this year, the appointed advisory committee submitted its scientific advisory report to HHS and USDA and was then posted for public comment and review. Hot topics in the 29,000 submitted comments included criticism over the inclusion of the impact of sustainability and exploration of the impact of food taxes such as a soda tax being considered or approved by some cities.

During a hearing with the House Agriculture Committee,   HHS secretary Sylvia Burwell said although both the conversations about taxes and sustainability are "important conversations," the dietary guidelines is not the appropriate document to address them in.

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President, Vilsack tout TPP benefits

The President traveled to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Tuesday where he joined secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack for a meeting with agriculture and business leaders on the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership for American business and workers.

President Obama said with this trade agreement, which spans nearly 40% of the global economy, will enable the sale more products for agriculture. Currently over 18,000 taxes and tariffs are placed on America's products in other countries. "Under this agreement, all those foreign taxes will fall," Obama claimed. "Most of them will fall to zero."
U.S. exports of agricultural products to the 11 other TPP countries totaled $63 billion in 2014, 42% of total U.S. agricultural exports.

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ADSA News and Happenings
House Agriculture Committee Holds Hearing on Dietary Guidelines
On October 7th, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to discuss the status of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.  The committee heard testimony from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell.  Leaders of the committee expressed concerns to Vilsack and Burwell that the dietary guidelines be based on the best science available and stay within the scope of diet and nutrition.  The federal advisory committee charged with making recommendations to the two departments included controversial provisions regarding environmental sustainability.  These recommendations were particularly critical of animal agriculture and drew sharp fire from industry. 
The day before the hearing, Secretaries Burwell and Vilsack issued a joint statement that the final 2015 guidelines would not expand the scope to include considerations for environmental sustainability.  The statement also indicated that the guidelines would have many similarities to the last set of guidelines that recognized the value of low-fat dairy and lean meat in the diet.  This was welcome news to animal agriculture, as many had feared that the final version of the 2015 guidelines would include language critical of the industry and not recognize the nutritional value of dairy and meat products in a healthy diet.  The guidelines are expected to be completed by the end of 2015.
 
S-PAC Update
If you attended the 2015 JAM and received a trial subscription to S-PAC we hope that you tried it out and found S-PAC to be an invaluable information resource.  The free 90 day trial period is now over, but S-PAC is always a great deal.  If you haven't done so already why not subscribe today and make it part of your information tool box. S-PAC continues to grow in value as new proceedings are added. Our most recent addition is the proceedings from the 2015 Minnesota Nutrition Conference. Subscribers now have access to 528 proceedings from 58 conferences.  Visit the S-PAC homepage for a complete list of conferences and become a subscriber.
 
Would you like to help the animal and dairy science community and attend the 2017 ADSA Annual Meeting for free?
Referrals are the most tried-and-true way businesses grow, and the same is true for 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 [email protected] .
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 June 1, 2017, ADSA will comp your registration to the 2017 ADSA Annual Meeting that will be held June 25 to 28, 2017 in Pittsburgh, PA.  It's win-win-win. For more information about services offered by FASS, click here.
 
"Creating an Enduring U.S. Dairy Production Sector"
Have you registered yet for the 30th Discover Conference "Creating an Enduring U.S. Dairy Production Sector"?  The speaker list is in place and it will be a great program.  You can check out the agenda and speakers on the DC 30 website. The Conference, hosted by the American Dairy Science Association�, will be held November 2-5, 2015 at Eaglewood Resort & Spa, Itasca, IL. Space is limited, but slots are still available. On-line and/or mail-in registration is available on the website.  
 
Are You Part of ADSA� on Linked In
Our ADSA Linked In group continues to grow. We now include 1,415 members from around the world, are you one of them? It's a great place to get information and network with other dairy professionals from around the world.  Check it out here.

Thanks to our Corporate Sustaining Members
                                 We appreciate your ongoing support of ADSA and the Journal of Dairy Science�.

Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition
Elanco Animal Health
Diamond V Mills 
Kent Nutrition
Grande Cheese Co.
Kraft Foods
GEA Farm Technologies 
BioZyme Inc.
Darling International Research
Quali Tech
Zook Nutrition & Management
Zinpro
DuPont Pioneer
Zoetis
West Central
Lallemand Animal Nutrition
Ag Processing
Renaissance Nutrition
Global Agri-Trade Corp.
Masters Choice
Papillon Agricultural Co. 
Calendar of Events
Oct 12-16, 2015 Cheese Tech Short Course, UW Madison, Babcock Hall, Room 205, For more information click here
Oct 13-15, 2015  High Temperature Short Time (HTST) Pasteurizer Workshop, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, For more information contact Steve Murphy 607-255-2893 or
Janene Lucia  607-255-2892
Oct 14-18, 2015  ADGA Annual Convention, The Riverside Hotel, Boise, ID. For more information contact American Dairy Goat Association, PO Box 865, Spindale, NC 28160, 828-286-3801 or [email protected]. www.ADGA.org.
Oct 20-21, 2015  Dairy Ingredient Applications, UW Madison, Babcock Hall, Room 205, For more information click here
Oct 20-22, 2015  Pasteurizer Operators Workshop, Penn State University, Rodney A. Erickson Food Science Building, University Park, PA, for information and registration click here
Oct 20-22, 2015  77th Annual Cornell Nutrition Conference for Feed Manufacturers*, Doubletree Hotel Syracuse, East Syracuse, NY, For more information click here
Oct 22, 2015  International Symposium on Dairy Cattle Nutrition 2015 - Nutrition and Animal Health, Wageningen, the Netherlands, For more information, click here.

Oct 22-24, 2015 Northeast Regional Dairy Challenge: hosted by Penn State University in State College, PA For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Oct. 22-28, 2015 119th IUSAHA- AAVLD Annual Meeting , Rhode Island Convention Center. Providence, RI, For more information click here
Oct 26-28, 2015  12th Anniversary of the International Symposium on Milk Genomics and Human Health, Sydney Australia, For more information click here.
Oct 28-29, 2015 Vat Pasteurization and Basic Cheese Making Workshop, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, For more information contact Rob Ralyea 607-255-7643 or Janene Lucia 607-255-2892. Click for registration.
Nov 2-5, 2015    30th Discover Conference - "Creating an Enduring U.S. Dairy Production Sector", Eaglewood Resort & Spa, Itasca, Il. For more information, click here
Nov 5-7, 2015    Cheese Grading Short Course, UW Madison, Babcock Hall, Room 205, For more information click here
Nov 5-7, 2015  21st Annual Dairy Sheep Association of North American Symposium, Madison, Wis. For more information, click here

Nov 9-11, 2015  Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals*, Kansas City, Missouri, For more information click here
Nov. 9-12, 2015  The Science and Art of Cheese Making Short Course, Penn State University, Rodney A. Erickson Food Science Bldg, University Park, PA. For more information and registration click here
Nov. 10-11, 2015  Accredited Introductory HACCP Training, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. For more information, click here, to register click here.

Nov 11-12, 2015 PA Dairy Cattle Nutrition Workshop, For more information
click here
Nov 12-13, 2015  DCRC Annual Meeting, Adam's Mark, Buffalo, New York, For more information click here
Nov. 12-13, 2015   Implementing SQF Systems, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. For more information click here, to register Click here.

Nov 15-17, 2015 Southern Regional Dairy Challenge: hosted by Virginia Tech in Abington, VA For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Dec 2-4, 2015   Ice Cream Makers Short Course, UW Madison, Babcock Hall, 1605 Linden Dr., Madison WI Download a copy of the brochure and register for the short course
January 18-19, 2016  Pacific Northwest Animal Nutrition Conference, The Riverside Hotel, Boise, Idaho, visit http://www.pnwanc.org for more information
Feb 17-19, 2016 Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge: hosted by UW Platteville and Southwest Technical College in Platteville, WI For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Feb 23, 2016  Vermont Dairy Producers Conference, For more information click here
Feb 25-27, 2016 Western Regional Dairy Challenge: hosted by College of the Sequoias in Tulare, CA  For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Mar. 8 - 11, 2016  34th Western Canadian Dairy Seminar*, for more information click here
Mar 14 - 16, 2016 Midwest Meeting ADSA� Midwest Branch and ASAS Midwestern Section, Des Moines, IA
April 7-9, 2016 North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge & Academy: hosted by the Northeast Region in Syracuse, NY For more information, visit the Dairy Challenge web site
Apr18 - 20, 2016 Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, Grand Wayne Center,  Fort Wayne, IN, For more information click here
May 1-4, 2016Large Dairy Herd Management (LDHM) Conference, Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort and Conference Center, Oak Brook, IL, For more information click here
June 15-16, 2016  4-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference, Grand River Center, Dubuque, IA, contact Jim Salfer, University of Minnesota [email protected]
June 20-24, 2016 13th International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis*, Nantes, France, For more information click here
July 2-9, 2016  American Dairy Goat Association National Show, Farm Show Complex & Expo Center, Harrisburg, PA. For more information contact ADGA, PO Box 865, Spindale, NC 28160. 828-286-3801. www.ADGA.org
July 19-23, 2016  ADSA- ASAS Joint Annual Meeting (JAM)*, Salt Lake City, UT, for more information click here
July 24-28, 2016  2016 National Association of County Agricultural Agents Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference (AM/PIC), Little Rock, AR. For more information, click here.

June 25-28, 2017 2017 ADSA Annual Conference and Tradeshow, Pittsburgh, PA.  For more information
click here
*An S-PAC Partner Conference
 
If your organization's conference isn't among the ever growing list that contribute proceedings and presentations to S-PAC�, ask your conference organizer to contact Ken Olson for more information about the benefits of participation.
If you would like to have an event included in the "Dates to Note," please contact Ken Olson.
ADSA Membership Benefits                                 
                                           
Did you know that your ADSA Professional Membership provides you with:

*        Electronic access to the Journal of Dairy Science�

*        Joint Annual Meeting at member rates

*        Discover Conferences at member rates

*        S-PAC: Free access to JAM and ADSA divisional abstracts

*        S-PAC subscription at member rates

*        Access to recorded symposia library                                                                       

*        ADSA News (association newsletter)

*        ADSA Dair e-news (ADSA industry newsletter)

*        Access to member directory

*        Peer recognition through ADSA and Foundation Award Program

*        Discounted page charges in Journal of Dairy Science�

*        A strong voice of advocacy for the animal sciences, animal agriculture and agriculture research

*        Broad author recognition through ADSA/Elsevier press release program

*        Linked In and You Tube sites for ADSA

*        Quality networking with academic and industry professionals

*        Travel awards for all graduate students attending Discover Conferences

*        Opportunity to serve peers via committee and officer positions

 
For more information on your benefits please visit: http://www.adsa.org/join.asp
To join now and gain these member benefits, visit: http://www.adsa.org/join.asp

American Dairy Science Association
1800 South Oak St., Suite 100, Champaign, IL 61820